Construction workers should benefit from the boom

Full order books, record sales, long waits for tradesmen – the construction industry is booming. The 670 construction workers in the habberge district are now to benefit from the agreement. For them, the industrial union for construction, agriculture and the environment (IG bau) is demanding a wage increase of 6.8 percent in the upcoming round of collective bargaining, but at least 230 euros more per month. Trainees to receive 100 euros more per month.

The IG bau also demands that long travel times to the construction site be paid for. Negotiations between the union and employers will begin on 19 december. March in berlin. "Bricklayers, carpenters and tilers are in high demand. Especially in housing

Shortage of skilled workers worsens. But you can only get them if construction work becomes more attractive", says michael groha, district chairman of IG bau mainfranken.

Large construction companies and many small craft businesses in the region are in better economic shape than they have been for years. "If you don’t invest in better wages and working conditions today, you may not have any skilled workers tomorrow", stresses groha.

A crucial point here is the payment for commuting: "construction workers sometimes spend several hours a day in the car to get to and from the construction site. This is lost time. Construction sites are changing all the time. Unlike most commuters, construction workers can’t prepare in advance for the next job site", says carsten burckhardt, who is leading the negotiations on behalf of IG bau. In the collective bargaining round, the union says it wants to push for the first time for a general compensation of the so-called "way time"