The “concentrated action” was intended to avoid high wage settlements, which could otherwise trigger the dreaded wage-price spiral.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The federal government is not continuing the so-called “concerted action” with the social partners for the time being. The meeting scheduled for March 9 will not take place, according to an email from the Chancellery to the employers’ associations and trade unions involved. The letter is available to the Handelsblatt.
Economic development in Germany has stabilized in recent months, writes the Department of Economic, Financial and Climate Policy. “That’s good news.” The concerted action has made its contribution. “For the moment, this means that we will initially switch the concerted action to stand-by mode.”
Under the impression of the energy price crisis and the generally high inflation, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) invited business associations and trade unions to the first meeting of the concerted action against rising prices in July last year. Since then, the group has met three times, most recently in October 2022.
The Chancellery points out that a lot has been achieved together. The social partners had worked “very constructively” on the gas and electricity price brakes as well as on the inflation compensation premium, which has now found its way into many collective bargaining agreements. The federal government had decided that companies can still pay out 3,000 euros per employee tax- and duty-free as an inflation compensation premium until the end of 2024.
The underlying hope was that it would be possible to avoid such high wage settlements, which could otherwise trigger the dreaded wage-price spiral. The trade unions had welcomed the instrument in principle, but had always forbidden any interference in their collective bargaining policy.
>> Read here: High energy prices: trade unions are demanding further relief
Verdi boss Frank Werneke, whose union is currently in the middle of the collective bargaining round for the 2.5 million employees in the public sector, welcomes the temporary end of the concerted action: It was difficult to identify a clear objective, he told the Handelsblatt. “The Chancellery is definitely not the right place for collective bargaining – not even in the broader sense.”
At the same time, Werneke emphasized that there would continue to be a close exchange between politics and social partners. One really cannot accuse the federal government of not regularly seeking dialogue with business and trade unions. This applies, for example, to discussion formats such as the Alliance for Transformation or the Skilled Workers Summit, in which the social partners are prominently involved. There, solutions would be discussed “with reasonably clearly defined tasks”.
More: Fear of the wage-price spiral: Despite falling inflation rates, wage demands are rising