There is a strike in Germany again. This time, construction workers are stopping their work and demanding 500 euros more wages per month. That would be a big jump because current wages are well below the average for all sectors.
Home builders must now prepare for additional delays, as do drivers on the motorway. For the first time in 17 years there has been a strike on construction sites since Monday morning; the last nationwide strike in the industry was 22 years ago. “It is now up to the employers whether the houses and apartments will be completed on time and whether the traffic jam due to motorway construction will get longer,” says the head of the Construction-Agrar-Environment (IG BAU) industrial union, Robert Feiger.
After starting in Lower Saxony, the strike is to be expanded to the entire federal territory from Tuesday. The employers’ negotiator, Uwe Nostitz, criticizes: “Especially now, in difficult economic times, especially in housing construction, strike action comes at an inopportune time.” IG Bau wants to achieve significantly higher wages for working outside “in all weathers,” as the head of the construction industry department, Christian Beck, emphasized to ntv.de. “Without the builders, the necessary foundations for the energy transition are missing now and in the future, and there are no intact roads, rails and bridges.”
After the employers rejected the arbitrator’s decision in the collective bargaining dispute, the union is now again demanding 500 euros for each of the approximately 930,000 employees in the construction industry, as was the case at the beginning of the negotiations. The collective wages on construction sites currently start at 12.85 euros per hour, just above the general minimum wage. The collective agreement provides this much for so-called workers who carry out simple construction and assembly work according to instructions, such as mixing concrete or digging manually. According to IG Bau, on average they earn around 2,220 euros gross full-time. No training is necessary for this.
With training between 3400 and 4450 euros
According to the collective agreement, skilled workers, machinists and drivers earn an average of around 3,100 euros in western Germany and just under 2,650 euros in the east after three months. With two years of training, skilled workers earn a good 3,540 euros in the west and up to around 3,440 euros in eastern Germany. Activities include, for example, asphalting, bending reinforcing steel, plastering or laying pipes.
After three years of training to become a specialist construction worker, almost 3,900 euros are paid in the West and almost 3,750 euros in the East. Foremen who either lead a small group of employees or carry out particularly difficult work independently receive almost 4,070 euros (West) or a good 3,940 euros (East). Factory polishers who lead groups of employees can earn the most and receive around 4,450 euros (West) or a good 4,300 euros.
Additional subsidies are available for the sometimes long journeys to construction sites; according to the union, construction workers travel an average of 65 kilometers to work every day. As compensation, they receive a meal allowance of seven to nine euros per day. For construction sites that are too far away to drive home every day, travel time compensation is also paid, usually between 18 and 78 euros per week, staggered according to distance. From 75 kilometers there are 9 euros for a return trip, and from 400 kilometers it is 39 euros each. From 500 kilometers onwards, employees are given an additional day off every four weeks.
Strike for more wages: “Most people earn between 2200 and 3100 euros”
However, according to the union, it is not possible to determine how many employees in the industry are paid according to collective agreements. The majority receive wages – which differ from their actual work and qualifications – in the amount of the lowest two wage groups, as Beck explains to ntv.de. In addition, some people, for example from road construction, are put on short-time work or even unemployed during the winter due to seasonal reasons. For example, it is then too cold to pour concrete.
Labor disputes
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The job portal Stepstone has calculated a median salary of 37,700 euros per year for construction workers, which is equivalent to a good 3,140 euros per month. This is the median salary – half earn more, half earn less. For comparison: Across all sectors, the median salary last year was just under 3,650 euros. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the average salary of full-time employees a year ago was a good 4,300 euros gross.
This article first appeared at ntv.de
Source: Stern
