NAfter the collective bargaining round for 1.4 million employees in the federal states in November, most state governments very quickly announced that their civil servants should also benefit from the salary settlement. Despite the tense budgetary situation, they wanted to transfer this to civil servants’ salaries, and several countries even promised a “one-to-one” transfer. The implementation that is now beginning shows, however, that they are making use of some room for interpretation – above all to cut back on retirees. In fact, it boils down to a zero round for them.
The reason for this lies in a special corona bonus, which although it plays a key role in the collective bargaining agreement of the states with the Verdi and DBB Beamtenbund unions, but which should now be left out when it is transferred to pensioners. The collective agreement stipulates that current monthly salaries will increase by 2.8 percent as of December 1, 2022. And to bridge the gap until then, the employees receive a one-off payment of 1,300 euros declared as a corona bonus.
No corona bonus for retirees
When it is transferred to the civil servants, only active civil servants should now receive this money. This is now confirmed by an overview by the Verdi union of the implementation status in all countries that the FAZ has received. In December, Baden-Württemberg was one of the first countries to announce that it would exempt pensioners from the 1,300 euros, much to the annoyance of the officials there. A few days ago, the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia also agreed – what it calls a “simultaneous and effective transmission”. Roland Staude, Chairman of the DBB Beamtenbund NRW, comments: There is “no reason to pop the champagne corks”, but rather to swallow a “toad”.
Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and other states had previously made it clear that there would only be a percentage increase for their retirees. Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also want to deny active civil servants in the higher salary classes the bonus. Instead of “one-to-one”, the Schwerin Finance Minister Heiko Geue (SPD) had only promised a “system-compatible” transfer of the collective agreement from the outset.
In Hesse things are a little different because it is the only state to stay away from the state collective bargaining community and negotiate independent regulations for its employees. His October collective agreement provides for a premium of 1,000 euros. Retirees are also excluded from the transfer to civil servants. However, as early as August 2022, the current monthly salaries for everyone in Hesse will rise by 2.2 percent.
The label “Corona premium” makes it seem very plausible right away to exclude retirees from it: After all, retirees with – according to widespread opinion – already lavish pensions cannot claim an increased workload in the pandemic. From the point of view of the officials’ representatives, however, it is more complicated: The 1,300 euros are declared as a Corona premium – which has the nice advantage that the money flows tax-free. In terms of collective bargaining policy, however, the premium actually had a different function, namely that of a cost-containment measure for the federal states.
Wage growth remains low
This is because the percentage wage increase will not come until December, although the old collective agreement only ran until the end of 2021 and the last time there was an increase of 1.4 percent in January 2021. The unions would normally not have accepted such a long time without a regular increase – only the prospect of the attractive bonus made it possible. And the countries save money in the long run, since one-off payments, unlike regular salary increases, do not increase the starting point for any further percentage increase.
The 1,300 euros that pensioners are now supposed to forego is actually a compensation for the lack of a regular increase at the beginning of 2022. And even with regard to employees and active civil servants who receive the bonus, this part of the collective agreement was angry with union representatives. “Even the 1,300 euros tax-free corona bonus can barely compensate for the meager wage increase of 2.8 percent on December 1, 2022 in view of the current inflation rate,” said the head of the Baden-Württemberg civil servants’ association, Kai Rosenberger, critically assessing the collective bargaining agreement.
Compassion for retirees is limited
Without the bonus, the announced “one-to-one” transfer to civil servants’ salaries for retirees actually resembles a zero round: After their pensions were last raised by those 1.4 percent at the beginning of 2021, it will now take a total of 23 months until the next increase in December , despite high inflation. Outside of the civil service, hardly any public sympathy has been expressed for those affected.
This is probably due to the relatively high level of pensions compared to the statutory pension: Even the statutory minimum pension that civil servants can achieve after five years of service, regardless of career and qualification, is a good 1,800 euros per month. It is around 300 euros above the so-called gross standard pension that statutory insured employees receive after 45 years of work at the average wage.
If you only look at the current development, however, pensioners are now at least temporarily gaining a little ground against pensioners: although pensioners had to endure a zero round in 2021, they have a break from 24 months to increase until mid-2022. Then, according to the federal government, there is a new one for them An increase of 4.4 percent in prospect. And before the zero round, pensions in July 2020 had risen by 3.45 percent in the west and 4.2 percent in the east.
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