Frankfurt am Main – Five percent higher wages and disproportionately more for young talent: With this demand, IG Metall is starting the collective bargaining round for the wood and plastics industry. The union’s board decided this on Tuesday.
Collective bargaining officer Nadine Boguslawski: “Companies are in danger of losing their base along with their employees. With the collective bargaining round we want to secure the future for everyone. Strengthened purchasing power for employees also means secure labor and skilled workers.” Higher wages and salaries as well as an attractiveness bonus for trainees are affordable for companies.
The industry has 166,000 employees in the wood, furniture and plastics industries: at automotive suppliers and manufacturers of everything from kitchens to caravans to pianos.
Changing jobs is an issue for every second person
According to a survey by IG Metall among 4,400 employees, the companies in their industry are doing better than the economy as a whole: While 59 percent perceive the economic situation in the country as solid to very good, the order and earnings situation in the companies in the industry is much more positive for 75 percent. At the same time, the companies are suffering from a shortage of workers and skilled workers, which threatens to become worse as employees leave the country: At 45 percent, almost half of the number is Employees dissatisfied with their jobs. Another 15 percent are actually on the move by applying to other companies.
38,000 employees benefit directly from IG Metall’s collective bargaining agreement. In addition, there are numerous companies with an indirect effect of the collective agreement, which, with or without an in-house collective agreement, are based on the union’s collective agreements.
The first collective bargaining negotiations are planned for mid-November and will be conducted regionally. The peace obligation ends on December 13th (exception: Hamburg on January 1st and Saxony on February 1st, 2026), so warning strikes are possible around the turn of the year.
Note for editors: You can obtain regional press contacts from the IG Metall district management: igmetall.de/press-districts