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German metalworkers' union looks for 7% raise before bargaining round

The leadership of German metalworkers' union IG Metall on Monday advised members to require a 7% raise in the impending cumulative bargaining round, well above the current inflation rate.

Germany's largest commercial union said in a statement that regional panels would set the union's main wage demands for a 12-month duration on Friday, for talks that are viewed as an sign of wage growth in the euro location.

Inflation rates might well have actually decreased, but the level of prices to pay at the checkout is high, stated the union, which covers the mechanical engineering and electronics sectors.

It stated the bargaining round on behalf of 3.9 million workers, starting mid-September, would require to yield significantly higher pay because companies had a huge order backlog.

The sector's companies' association, which includes companies such as Thyssenkrupp, Siemens Healthineers and unlisted Bosch GmbH, turned down the union's need as extreme.

JP Morgan financial expert Greg Fuzesi said wage contracts in the sector have actually traditionally often come in at about half the level of preliminary demands.

The new offer will offer a sense of where pay development settles now that heading inflation has decreased back to more typical levels, Fuzesi said in a research note.

The European Central Bank stated this month it would closely watch incomes after cutting rate of interest for the first time since 2019, encouraged by a drop in inflation from 10% in 2022 to simply over its 2% target just recently.

There is, however, unpredictability about when additional rate cuts might follow as ECB policymakers flagged strong price pressures and wage development, which they said would probably keep inflation above its target well into next year.

German customer price inflation was 2.8% in May, up from 2.4% in April.

(source: Reuters)