The railway and transport workers union (Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsgewerkschaft, EVG) has negotiated a surcharge on top of the base rate with the associations of temporary employment agencies (iGZ and BAP).

The agreement is similar to the ones of IG Metall (metal and electrical industry) and IG BCE (chemical industry): railway and transports temporary workers will see a surcharge of up to 14% to match that of the permanent staff of user businesses.

Prior to this agreement, temporary workers in the railway and transport industry would only be eligible to equal pay after 24 months in assignments. According to the new agreement coming into for on the 1^st April 2013 temporary workers will be eligible for the surcharge from day one.

Commenting on the agreement in the wider context of the on-going discussion on equal pay for temporary workers, a representative of the BAP commented: “this agreement is a great achievement and an encouraging sign for other organisations currently negotiating industry wide agreements on pay adjustment for temporary workers in order to match their salaries with those of permanent workers.” He also added: “we have come to similar agreements in five of the major industry sectors. If we manage to secure similar agreements in all sectors of the industry then we would have fulfilled the requirements Federal Minitry of Labour’s requests for Equal pay for equal work”.

To read the full text of the collective agreement in German language, click here.