Overview
- Regional bargaining in Leuna ended without agreement, affecting about 48,000 employees, with negotiations to continue at the federal level on February 3.
- The first round in northern Germany also concluded without a deal for roughly 68,000 workers, with a national continuation scheduled in Hannover on the same date.
- Employer associations are urging a “tarifpolitische Atempause” to regain competitiveness, rejecting IG BCE’s push for pay rises.
- Germany’s commissioner for the eastern states invited industry and labor to talks at the Finance Ministry to discuss support for the central German chemical cluster.
- Operational strain persists as Domo halts production and Saxony-Anhalt finances temporary running of Leuna for safety reasons, with sector utilization below 70% and output about 20% under 2018 levels.