Labor market
About half of the employees with a collective agreement
Wages, special payments, additional vacation – in collective agreements, a lot is regulated in favor of employees. However, such agreements apply in all companies.
Almost half of the employees in Germany work in a company in which an industry or company collective agreement applies. With 49 percent of all employees in a tariff -bound company, the tariff bond in 2024 remained constant compared to previous years, as the Federal Statistical Office determined.
However, the quota was significantly higher in the past: According to the Economic and Social Science Institute (WSI), the Hans Böckler Foundation, according to the Economic and Social Science Institute (WSI), had been paid for around 85 percent of all employees according to a collective agreement that unions and employers’ associations had negotiated.
Tariff bond in some industries significantly below average
Depending on the industry, there are also clear differences in recent official statistics: the highest collective bargaining rates are once again determined by the Wiesbaden statisticians with 100 percent in public service, defense and social security. The value is also above average in energy supply (84 percent), in the area of education (80 percent) and for financial and insurance services (72 percent).
The economic area with the lowest collective bargaining in 2024 was agriculture and forestry as well as fishing (11 percent). There were also comparatively low odds in the areas of art, entertainment and relaxation (20 percent), property and housing (22 percent) and in the hospitality (23 percent).
In the comparison of the federal states, according to the statistics, the collective bargaining in Bremen (56 percent) was highest last year. The lowest collective bargaining was therefore identified by the state of Saxony (42 percent).
“Bader working conditions without a collective agreement”
WSI tariff expert Thorsten Schulten sees that only a minority of employees benefit from a collective agreement in many service industries such as trade or hospitality: “Without collective agreements, employees earn significantly less, work much longer and have poorer working conditions overall.”
A WSI study published in April 2024 came to the conclusion that full-time employees work on average for 53 minutes longer on average and still earn a good 10 percent less than employees in companies with collective bargaining. WSI researcher Schulten is calling for legal regulations for more tariff connection from a future federal government.
dpa
Source: Stern
