German unions settle

The last few weeks have seen a series of key pay settlements in Germany covering more than five million workers. The metal, chemical and construction workers have all settled, leaving the 3.1 million public sector workers as the main group still outstanding. The key settlements are to run for periods ranging from 21 to 24 months and they have all been for rises of between 2% and 3% in the first year with lower increases in the second. (German inflation was running at 1.9% in March.) There has also been progress on arrangements for early retirement. (For details see the Labour Research Department's Bargaining Report April 2000.)