Frankfurt am Main – The metal and electronics industry is in the midst of digital and ecological change – and is poorly prepared for it. “Half of the companies have no or insufficient strategy to manage the transformation,” said Jörg Hofmann, first chairman of IG Metall, at the union’s annual press conference in Frankfurt on Friday.
“The pressure of problems in the factories is great, now answers to the transformation are required quickly. Decisions have to be made as to whether and how the future can be shaped with the workforce, ”said Hofmann. IG Metall therefore proposes to employers’ associations to: “Moratorium for Fair Change” agree.
This moratorium includes:
The employers agree not to take any unilateral measures to cut staff, relocate products with future prospects and close locations.
IG Metall declares its willingness to immediately start negotiations on a future package in all regions. The goal is to achieve results before the end of the peace obligation.
The contents of this future package would be:
The willingness to conclude future collective agreements at company level. The aim is to define specific investment and product perspectives for locations and employees, agreements on measures for personnel development and corresponding measures for training and further education and to exclude redundancies.
The agreement of tariff instruments for securing employment, such as supplementary rules for short-time work and entitlement to further vocational training. IG Metall is also urging politicians to quickly clarify the legal framework.
In this collective bargaining agreement, IG Metall also wants to push through wage increases that strengthen the purchasing power of employees and find their way into the pay tables. For the upcoming negotiations, IG Metall does not raise a numbered claim to increase the fees.
In addition, IG Metall is discussing the demand for a sustainability bonus for IG Metall members so that the costs of climate protection are not unilaterally passed on to employees.
Employers are encouraged to declare by February 3, 2020 – the union’s next board meeting – if they want to go this route. If this is not the case, IG Metall will make its request for the collective bargaining round in the usual way.
“IG Metall is confident about the transformation. It has clear goals: strengthening purchasing power as well as security and fair participation for all employees – in groups and with small suppliers, for core workforces, for contract and contract workers, ”said Hofmann.
IG Metall is prepared for the collective bargaining round. The # FairWandel rally in June in Berlin with more than 50,000 participants made it clear that IG Metall is able to mobilize.
The membership development in 2019 was stable, although the positive development of 2018 could no longer be achieved. At the end of 2019 there were 2,262,571 million members, 8,000 fewer than in the previous year. Looking at the past decade, the number of members rose from 2.24 million to 2.26 million.
“This stable development cannot be taken for granted if you bear in mind that employment in the auto industry is now declining, that contract workers have been deregistered in rows, short-time work has been expanded and staff reduction programs have been implemented,” said Hofmann.
There is an increase compared to 2018 among women, employees, young professionals and members without a German passport (figures in the presentation). “IG Metall is a very diverse organization that is able to address very different groups of employees,” emphasized Christiane Benner, second chairwoman of IG Metall.
Benner criticized the rationalization of office activities, which is now gaining momentum. “This is a wrong way! I urge employers to assume their corporate responsibility and to develop perspectives with employees and to train them further. Future collective agreements with IG Metall offer a sensible framework for this. “
“Financially, IG Metall is on a solid footing,” said Jürgen Kerner, main cashier of IG Metall. Last year, premium income was 598 million euros, 13 million more than in 2018. 90 million euros went into reserves and provisions for statutory benefits, for the company pension scheme of IG Metall employees and for political campaigns. The majority of the premium income, 218 million euros, went to the 155 branches for their work at the grassroots level. “We want to be strong in the factories on site and become stronger,” emphasized Jürgen Kerner, main cashier of IG Metall. “IG Metall is solidly sound and financially well positioned. She has staying power to fight collective bargaining. “
on the statement by Jörg Hofmann (PDF, 6 pages)
to Christiane Benner’s statement (PDF, 4 pages)
on the statement by Jürgen Kerner (PDF, 4 pages)
to the presentation slides (PDF, 24 pages)
to the fact sheet by Jürgen Kerner (PDF, 5 pages)
to the moratorium (PDF, 2 pages)
to the press release (PDF, 4 pages)