BRATISLAVA, June 13 (Reuters) – French car maker Peugeot’s Slovak unit has agreed with trade unions on a 7.7 percent wage hike this year, it said on Wednesday. The raise follows an average 6.3 percent wake hike last year at the plant that produced more than 335,000 cars in 2017. Peugeot Citroen, which makes Citroen C3 and Peugeot 208 cars, is one of the central European country’s three carmakers, along with Volkswagen and Kia. They together have a combined annual output of more than 1 million vehicles.
With unemployment in much of the central European region at or near record lows, Slovak wages have grown quickly and are expected to rise 3.3 percent this year in real terms after a 3.1 percent gain in 2017.
Slovakia’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen experienced a six-day strike last year that ended in a deal on a 4.7 percent wage rise from June 2017. Wages also rose another 4.7 percent in January 2018 and a further 4.1 percent in November 2018.
Jaguar Land Rover plant is expected to come online this year, less than 60 kilometres (37.28 miles) from Peugeot’s factory, adding to wage pressures in the tight labour market. (Reporting By Tatiana Jancarikova Editing by Jan Lopatka)