After months of difficult negotiations, the collective bargaining partners BVDM and ver.di reached a new wage agreement in Nuremberg on 21 June 2024.
The collectively agreed wages for industrial employees in the printing industry will increase in three stages: by 3.9 percent from 1 July 2024, by a further 2.0 percent from 1 July 2025 and by a further 1.9 percent from 1 March 2026. The term of the wage agreement – calculated from 1 March 2024 – is 29 months and can therefore be terminated for the first time on 31 July 2026.
In order to further increase the attractiveness of apprenticeships in the print and media industry and secure the companies’ need for skilled workers in the long term, it was also agreed to increase trainee salaries disproportionately by 12 percent in two steps of 6 percent each on 1 July 2024 and 1 July 2025.
In addition, the employers have agreed to adjust the lowest salary groups of the regional collective wage agreements in line with ver.di’s demands so that a basic salary of 13 euros per hour is also achieved in the lower groups.
“The wage agreement is a good and important signal for all employees in the printing industry and gives employers planning security for the coming years. We are pleased that we have managed to find a compromise in intensive negotiations with ver.di,” said Dr Klemens Berktold, lead negotiator on the employers’ side. The parties to the collective agreement have agreed on an acceptance period for the BVDM and ver.di committees until 19 July 2024.
BVDM
The Bundesverband Druck und Medien e. V. (bvdm) is the umbrella organisation of the German printing industry. As an employers’ organisation, political trade association and technical trade association, it represents the positions and objectives of the printing industry vis-à-vis politicians, administration, trade unions and the supplier industry. The bvdm is supported by eight regional associations. Internationally, it is organised through its membership of Intergraf and FESPA. The printing industry currently comprises around 6,900 predominantly small and medium-sized companies with more than 110,000 employees subject to social security contributions.