Two-tier model and bonus
Employees of private banks get more money
4/6/2022, 4:03 p.m
After six rounds there is a result: The approximately 140,000 employees in Germany’s private banks get more money in two steps. There are also two one-time payments. The employers are talking about a just about viable solution.
After more than nine months of negotiations, the union and employers have agreed on a collective bargaining agreement for private banks in Germany. The salaries of around 140,000 employees will increase in two stages by a total of five percent. They are to be increased by three percent on August 1 and by a further two percent on August 1, 2023, as announced by Verdi and the employers’ association of the private banking industry after the sixth round of collective bargaining. This spring and January 2023 there will be one-off payments of 500 euros each. The remuneration for trainees will also be increased. The collective agreement runs until May 31, 2024.
“The salary increases that have now been achieved create important financial relief,” said Verdi negotiator Jan Showereck. No agreement was reached on the topics of the junior staff collective agreement and mobile working. “But these issues remain subject to resubmission.”
The chief negotiator for the employers, Sabine Schmittroth, described the result as a “still workable compromise” that demanded a lot from everyone involved. “With this wage agreement, we are recognizing the performance of our employees in difficult times and are significantly reducing the consequences of increased inflation, especially for employees in the lower and middle salary brackets.”
Verdi entered the negotiations on July 1 last year with a demand for 4.5 percent more money for twelve months. Most recently, the union demanded a one-time payment of 1,500 euros for a term of 24 months, an increase in collective wages by 3.5 percent retrospectively from January 2022 and by a further 2.5 percent from January 2023, plus two additional vacation days. Verdi had backed up the demands with numerous warning strikes.
Last week, a wage agreement was reached for 60,000 employees of state and development banks in Germany. There has also already been an agreement for Postbank, which belongs to the Deutsche Bank Group and which traditionally has in-house wage agreements.