The IG Metall trade union is pushing for significant improvements in the upcoming collective bargaining round covering 3.7 million employees in Germany’s metal and electrical industry. On Wednesday, the union’s executive board formally approved demands for a five percent pay increase and a collectively agreed profit-sharing scheme for “boom companies”, IG Metall said. The union is also calling for “collectively agreed safeguards for the future and employment”.
IG Metall will enter the negotiations with “combative realism”, union leader Christiane Benner announced. “Giving up gets us nowhere. Instead of crisis rhetoric, attacks on social standards and painting a bleak picture, employees expect secure jobs, compensation for higher prices and a fair share of companies’ profits,” she said. “We will not accept threats of relocation as a diversion from management failures.”
The five percent pay increase, with a 12-month contract term, had already been approved on Tuesday by IG Metall’s regional branches as resolutions of their collective bargaining committees. The union’s executive board has now formally adopted the demand as well.
Employers rejected the demands as “out of touch with reality” on Tuesday. For employers, the main priority at present is reducing costs, Südwestmetall said. “We have to succeed in enabling our companies to produce competitively here again and thereby preserve as many jobs in the country as possible,” said Südwestmetall chairman Peter Sebastian Krause.
IG Metall, however, highlighted that according to the union’s surveys, order books at two-thirds of companies are “good or very good”. The union said there is particularly strong demand among manufacturers of ships and rail vehicles, as well as in medical technology, aerospace and defence. At one-third of companies, particularly in the automotive industry and mechanical engineering, the order situation is “poor to very poor”, according to IG Metall.
Against this backdrop, the union’s package of demands is “responsible, fair and precisely tailored”, said IG Metall collective bargaining executive Nadine Boguslawski. “We are offering and demanding collectively agreed responses from employers to the wide range of economic situations: from companies in crisis to companies experiencing a boom.”
The union says the demand for a five percent pay increase is intended in particular to cushion employees against rising living costs while also supporting domestic economic activity. “Anyone who wants an upswing needs purchasing power,” Boguslawski said.
IG Metall also wants to ensure that companies facing economic difficulties have sufficient instruments to protect jobs and make investments for the future. “Employees there are already giving up collectively agreed benefits, enabling transformation and securing jobs,” Boguslawski said.
A new issue for the union is its demand for a profit-sharing scheme anchored in the sector-wide collective agreement for employees at companies in a strong economic position. “Those who create exceptional success should also share in that success,” Boguslawski said.
The regional collective bargaining negotiations for Germany’s metal and electrical industry are scheduled to begin from October 7. According to IG Metall, the peace obligation, during which industrial action is excluded, ends on October 31. Warning strikes could therefore begin from November 1.
From breaking news to thought-provoking opinion pieces, our newsletter keeps you informed & engaged.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
