The German electronics giant Siemens employs around 5,500 temporary workers in the country, some of whom will lose out when a new national agreement will come into force next month, local media reports.

The company is in a dispute with its works council which is not excluding legal action against Siemens.

The employee group claims that the new collective bargaining agreement may generally raise pay rates for temporary agency workers in the metal and electrical industry. But Siemens has had a company agreement in place which pays some of its temporary workers more than the collective deal, which is due to be enforced on 1 November.

This gives the parties little time to sort out the quarrel. The works council is currently negotiating with the management and are planning demonstrations in Berlin and Frankfurt, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

“We will not accept that temporary workers are disadvantaged by the collective agreement,” said Jürgen Kerner, a member of the Siemens supervisory board and the IG Metall union.

Siemens had signed a company agreement in 2009 which entitles agency workers to earn 75% of the base salary paid to direct hires if they have worked at the company for more than a year. After 16 months of employment, temporary staff earn the same and have the right to direct employment after 18 months.

The works council is supportive of the collective agreement. But it wants to ensure that long-term agency workers will not lose out on those rights.

Siemens has not commented on the issue.