German union in pay dispute with sports goods, footwear industry

Wurzburg, Germany – German trade union IGBCE has reported that its first round of pay negotiations with the sports goods and footwear industry have ended “without a result.”

“Employers did not put any offer on the table, neither for pay nor for the inflation compensation premium,” said a 12 July statement from multi-industry union.

IGBCE is demanding that employee salaries increase by a uniform fixed amount of €372/year and that training allowances rise by €200 for each training year.

Moreover, the union wants to enforce the payment of the tariff-based inflation allowance of €3,000, which can be paid out tax- and duty-free.

According to IGBCE, Adidas, representing 8,000 of the total 13,000 industry workers, as well as Puma, Lloyd and Ara are among the employers involved.

A date for a second round of talks has yet to be set, said IGBCE, adding that the association “had problems persuading companies to hold the initial hearing.”

'Our demands are absolutely justified,' IGBCE negotiator Frieder Weissenborn. 'As of 1 Aug, the time is up, then the peace obligation ends.'