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Improvement in orders
Rates of pay to be raised again / Solidarity-based solution has proved its worth / Opening clause in collective agreement applied from February to the end of October 2009
Leverkusen, October 9, 2009 - Effective November 1 this year, the Bayer
subgroup MaterialScience (BMS) will be reverting to the standard collectively
agreed work week of 37.5 hours at its German sites. At the beginning of
February the company had introduced a reduction in working time and a
corresponding pay reduction of 6.7 percent to combat the effects of the
financial crisis. An opening clause in the collective agreement was applied in
order to avoid short-time working. With the reintroduction of normal working
hours the rates of pay for some 4,100 employees will return to their normal
level.
"The reason for lifting this special arrangement is the improvement in orders.
Nevertheless the future business development of our customer industries still
remains uncertain," said Dr. Tony Van Osselaer, Labor Director at Bayer
MaterialScience AG. Short-time working would mainly have affected employees in
production. "Thanks to the solidarity of all our employees, this was
prevented," said Thomas de Win, Chairman of the Central Works Council of Bayer
AG. Managerial employees of Bayer MaterialScience were also affected by the
cuts, which in their case included the cancellation of this year's round of pay
increases.
Bayer MaterialScience has a global workforce of around 15,000 people, of whom
some 5,200 work at BMS AG in Germany. Similar measures were also taken at the
international sites, adapted in each case to their economic situation.
The Board of Management of Bayer AG will report on current business trends in
its interim report for the third quarter on October 27.
Find more information at www.bayer.com.
