German security staff secure 7.6% rise

Around 34,000 security staff working in the North-Rhine Westphalia region, which includes Düsseldorf and Cologne, have won a pay increase of between 7% and 8% over two years.

For those on the lowest grade — around 70% of the total — the increase is 7.6% taking the hourly rate to €9.70. Even if calculated over 24 months, this represents a significant increase in real pay, as inflation is currently falling in Germany — down 0.4% in January 2015 on a year earlier.

The Ver.di union has used its membership at the airports to push through higher increases across the industry and it called them out in a series of warning strikes at the end of January. The settlement in North-Rhine Westphalia has been followed by settlements in Hamburg and Baden-Wurttemberg, where again security staff at airports took industrial action.

The euro was worth 74p on 18 February