Frankfurt am Main – The board of directors of IG Metall recommends that the regional wage commissions in the metal and electrical industry demand higher wages in a corridor of between 7 and 8 percent for 12 months. Jörg Hofmann, First Chairman of IG Metall: “The companies are doing well. But the employees are not doing well when they look at supermarket and energy bills.” That applies to the years 2022 and 2023, which the collective bargaining agreement that is now to be found must take into account. “Unlike companies, employees cannot pass on increased prices. In view of the good order and earnings situation, a decent increase is required in order to make a contribution to good purchasing power through collective bargaining,” said Hofmann. Over 3.8 million people work in the industry.
Survey: Companies are optimistic
The IG Metall board justifies its recommendation with the economic conditions. After a slump in March, corporate expectations for production, employment and exports have risen and are stable compared to the previous period. The range of orders in the metal and electrical industry is at an all-time high.
According to an IG Metall works council survey of over 2,400 companies, around 84 percent rated their order situation as “good” or “fairly good”, and only 2.6 percent as “poor”. 69 percent expect the order situation to remain the same over the next six months, and 18 percent even expect it to improve. In addition, the companies are well utilized: Two thirds currently have normal (20%) or high capacity utilization (43%). With a view to the earnings situation in 2022, 70 percent of the companies are optimistic.
Permanent, table-effective pay increase and relief necessary
Jörg Hofmann: “We repeatedly demonstrate common sense and responsibility. After four years, the employees have earned a decent increase in their pay scales. In addition, it is the task of politicians to intervene to control the huge problem of price increases. We cannot compensate for the current rates of inflation with collective bargaining alone.”
The last table-effective increase in wages in the metal and electrical industry took place in April 2018. In addition to a corona bonus, the 2021 collective bargaining agreement included a new annual special payment (transformation allowance). In the crisis-related collective bargaining agreement in June 2021, a term until September 2022 was agreed, so that, from the point of view of the collective bargaining parties, the wages can still be corrected for 2022 in view of the uncertainty prevailing at the time. Thus, in the metal and electrical industry, the wage development for 2022 and, with a 12-month term, for almost the entire year 2023 is up for negotiation.
The IG Metall decided on the final demand after meetings of the regional wage commissions on June 30 at the board meeting on July 11. Negotiations in the tariff areas begin in mid-September. The collective wage agreement expires on September 30th. The peace obligation ends on October 28, 2022.