IG Metall wants to make salary increases the focus of the next round of collective bargaining. “We will not demand a blanket reduction in weekly working hours,” said union leader Christiane Benner to the “Rheinische Post”.
However, more employees should be able to choose between more money and more free time. They would already be entitled to days off for education and care or if they worked in shifts. “This can be expanded significantly.”
According to Benner, the union is currently surveying the mood in the companies and wants to present its wage demands in the summer. “It is already clear that this round of collective bargaining will primarily be about more money for the employees.”
The collective agreement for around 3.9 million employees in the metal and electrical industries runs until September 30th. Benner’s predecessor Jörg Hofmann had already announced that he wanted to focus the negotiations on higher wages and not on shorter working hours.
“The boycott of training must come to an end”
Meanwhile, IG Metall called on companies to train more. Overall, less than five percent of employees in training companies in Germany are trainees, the union said. With a training rate of 4.3 percent, employers in IG Metall’s sectors are below average.
Anyone who doesn’t train or hardly trains should not complain about a problem with skilled workers, said IG Metall board member Hans-Jürgen Urban. “Employers should finally switch from complaining mode to action mode. The training boycott must come to an end.”
