Collective bargaining for banks is entering the next round

Frankfurt / Berlin (dpa) – The separate collective bargaining for the public and private banks is going into the next round. The second date of negotiations for the 60,000 employees of state and development banks and several savings banks is set for this week.

On Friday (September 24th) the trade unions Verdi and the German Bankers Association (DBV) will sit down again at the table in Berlin with the employers of the private institutes. There it is already in the third round about the working conditions for around 140,000 employees.

A big topic of this year’s collective bargaining round: more flexible working conditions. After the positive experience with mobile working during the pandemic, Verdi and DBV are calling for binding collective bargaining regulations. The subject of mobile working / home office is one of the sticking points in collective bargaining for both banking groups. Verdi wants to ensure that bank employees can work mobile for up to 60 percent of their working hours.

It’s also about money: Verdi is demanding 4.5 percent more money for both banking groups, but at least 150 euros more per month. The DBV demands 4.8 percent more money for both private and public banks and the reduction of weekly working hours by one hour to 38 hours.

The employers ‘association of the private banking industry (AGV Banken) had rejected the unions’ salary claims as unrealistic. In view of the tense situation in the industry, “strict cost discipline” is required.

When it comes to mobile working / home office, the negotiators from the Association of Public Banks in Germany (VÖB) were willing to compromise for the public banks. On the other hand, the employers’ side of the private banks sees the issue more at the company level than in a collective agreement.

For the first time since 1972, the collective bargaining community of public banks is again standing independently for its currently 43 member institutes. The goal: more precisely fitting solutions instead of the lowest common denominator. As a first step, the trade unions and employers agreed on a collective agreement for young professionals at the public banks in mid-August.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210919-99-272679 / 2

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