Frankfurt am Main – On the 75th anniversary of the Collective Bargaining Act on April 9th, IG Metall is calling on employers and politicians to more respect and promote this right of the unions. Nadine Boguslawski, IG Metall board member responsible for collective bargaining policy, said: “For 75 years, employees have had the right to better working conditions through collective agreements. Collective agreements guarantee a piece of democracy in the economy. Not only employees and companies benefit from this, but society as a whole. Collective agreements provide security in times of change. Especially in times of upheaval like now.”
“Reward companies with collective agreements instead of discriminating against them”
IG Metall board member Boguslawski is calling on companies and politicians to respect and finally implement the collective bargaining rate of at least 80 percent required by the EU. “When companies, guilds and employers’ associations evade collective agreements, they promote injustice – and thereby endanger social prosperity and peace. Anyone who does not organize economic change properly through collective bargaining opens a gateway for extremism.” Boguslawski expects the federal government to quickly implement a collective bargaining law: “Hardly any taxpayer understands when public money does not reach collective bargaining employees. On the contrary: companies with collective agreements must finally be rewarded.”
More money and less working hours with a collective agreement
According to IG Metall, 56 percent of employees in the metal and electrical industry have a collective agreement. This means they benefit from better wages with fewer working hours. In companies not covered by collective agreements, full-time employees work 12.4 hours longer per month than in companies covered by collective agreements. With a collective agreement, employees earn an average of over 9 euros or 29 percent more. Collective bargaining agreements also ensure less discrimination and more fairness between the sexes: without collective bargaining, the gender pay gap is 18 percent; with collective bargaining agreements, the earnings disadvantage for women compared to men is significantly smaller (9.5%). This is the result of an IG Metall analysis of the earnings survey by the Federal Statistical Office.
Background: On April 9, 1949, the Parliamentary Council in Bonn passed the Collective Bargaining Act, even before the Basic Law was passed. It basically regulates that unions and employers negotiate collective agreements independently.