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For the more than 100,000 workers in the cleaning industry in Eastern Germany, the roadmap is equal pay. After five rounds of tough negotiations, UNI affiliate IG BAU reached an agreement with the employer’s federation for the coming 2 years.

The head of Uni Property Services, Eddy Stam said, “The wage wall  will finally fall in 2020 after almost 30 years of reunification. During that period, wages were raised for around 600,000 employees in the industry.”

"Now, 28 years after the reunification and many futile attempts, we have finally achieved equal pay in East and West. This is a giant step, which has cost a lot of strength." In the meantime, collective bargaining was on the cutting edge. " said IG BAU board member and negotiator Ulrike Laux.

The collective agreement provides for an adjustment in four steps and has a term until December 31, 2020. "The long term was not easy for us to accept, but the gap between East and West wages of up to 13 percent could not be bridged. Aligning was a top priority, so that compromise was acceptable to us," said Laux.