Florists in the Ravensburg district: Fight for better working conditions!

Florists in the Ravensburg district: Fight for better working conditions!

In the Ravensburg district, over 90 people work in the floristry industry, with the majority of this workforce consisting of women. The florists are responsible for making bouquets, designing arrangements and decorating sales rooms and shop windows. Their work is not only creative but also challenging, as they often have to complete long work weeks with only a few days off.

Many florists in the region work six days a week and only have 24 days of vacation per year. These working conditions have attracted the attention of the IG BAU union, which is campaigning for a five-day week and 32 days of vacation for florists. In addition, IG BAU criticizes the fact that overtime is not always paid appropriately. This leads to increasing demand for fair regulation of working hours.

Collective bargaining and job offers

IG BAU Südwürttemberg is planning negotiations with the German Florists Association (FDF) in order to establish a collective agreement that will finally clarify the necessary working conditions. The union emphasizes the relevance of the florist's profession, especially at important life events such as baptisms, weddings and funerals, where floral design is of great importance. In addition to manual skills, the job also requires comprehensive knowledge of goods requirements, purchasing and price calculation.

In addition, a collective agreement was recently reached for florists in West Germany, which promises significant improvements. The salary will be increased in several steps retroactively to July 1, 2024, with an increase of 5% in the first year and a further 4.75% in the following year being planned for salary group A3. Some tariff groups, such as pay groups A4 and A5, benefit from up to 6% in the first year.

Planned salary increases and training allowances

A salary increase of 2.5% each is planned for the lowest salary groups A1 and A2. In addition, the remuneration for trainees increases in two steps by 50 euros each, which means a total remuneration of 900 euros for the 1st year of training, 1000 euros in the 2nd year of training and 1100 euros in the last year of training. Employers also offer a monthly subsidy of 32.50 euros for capital-forming benefits.

The term of the new collective agreement extends until June 30, 2026. It is crucial that these new regulations and salary increases only apply to those employees who are unionized, underscoring the importance of union membership.

IG BAU aims to strengthen appreciation for the floristry industry and to create clear, fair framework conditions for working hours, vacation days and overtime in order to improve the working conditions of the many florists in Ravensburg and beyond.
Weekly Newspaper and IG BAU report on these developments.