The Verdi union has reached a collective agreement with the private banks.
(Photo: dpa)
Frankfurt Collective bargaining for around 140,000 private bank employees in Germany is about to be concluded. The employers’ association of the private banking industry (AGV) and the unions had agreed on a deal, Verdi union secretary Stefan Wittmann told the Handelsblatt. It should be officially announced on Friday.
According to Wittmann, the new collective agreement provides for salary increases by three percent as of August 1, 2022 and by a further two percent as of August 1, 2023. In addition, there should be one-off payments of 500 euros each in May 2022 and January 2023. The new collective agreement runs until May 31, 2024.
Wittmann said that no agreement could be reached on mobile working and company pension schemes. There were only marginal improvements among the junior staff. Compared to the agreement with the Federal Association of Public Banks (VÖB), in which employees were promised up to 40 percent home office, the collective agreement with the private banks falls behind.
“We are disappointed that we were not able to agree a large package with the AGV, as with the VÖB, because the resistance from the private banks was too great,” said Wittmann. “The refusal attitude of private banks to mobile working is incomprehensible from our point of view, the attitude is backward-looking and no longer fits in with the times.”
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Nevertheless, Verdi decided on a collective bargaining agreement “because we don’t have the feeling that further strikes and negotiations would have led to more movement on the employer side,” said Wittmann. “People are suffering from inflation now, they need a degree now. Delaying it any further would not be in the interests of our members.”
The AGV Banken initially did not want to comment on a possible collective bargaining agreement. He represents the interests of around 120 banks. These include large institutes such as Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank as well as regional banks, mortgage bond banks, specialist banks, private bankers and building societies.
More: Agreement in the collective bargaining dispute between public banks: more money and more home office.