Published: 05/02/2018

IUF affiliate the NGG has concluded difficult and lengthy negotiations on an industry wide collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which sets minimum working conditions in the meat sector. The CBA must now be approved by the Bundestag, as the agreement is part of changes to the Posting of Workers Act which sets the rules on migrant labour ‘posted’ in Germany from other countries within the EU.

Once approved, the CBA will set a minimum  hourly wage of 9 euros plus payment for  changing time into work clothing, lifting the effective rate to 9.11 €.

The CBA will also introduce a voluntary scheme where full time workers (35 hours per week) can credit extra working time hours into a working time ‘bank.’

A law passed in August 2017 requires the host company to take responsibility for its employees, even if they are technically assigned to subcontractors.

Despite recent legislative improvements, employment conditions are horrific for thousands of workers from Eastern Europe who are still mostly employed by subcontractors and who are routinely cheated out of their entitlements and suffer from rights abuses.

The latest agreement is part of a long determined fight by the NGG to establish fair and universal standards in the meat sector.