IG Metall has announced that it will enforce its wage demands for four million employees through industrial action if necessary. “If necessary, we will strike intensively,” union leader Christiane Benner told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
“We are of course prepared for everything in the collective bargaining round: not just for warning strikes, but also for 24-hour strikes and ballots for indefinite strikes.” The IG Metall board will present its proposal for wage increases next Monday. Benner rejects the Baden-Württemberg employers’ demand for a zero-round: “This is a slap in the face of the employees.” They have achieved enormous things during the corona pandemic and the turbulent times of the wave of inflation and at the same time have foregone a lot. “And now they are being asked to pay a zero-round. I find that disrespectful of the employers.”
Employees felt the wave of inflation everywhere and demanded “significantly higher wages”. While the union is reportedly discussing a wage demand of six to eight percent, employers argue that inflation is falling and that the 2022 collective agreement has largely offset the inflation. Benner calls this argument absurd: “Prices have risen to a permanently high level that is still causing problems for employees.”
Benner has announced that the collective bargaining round will be a push against the shift to the right towards parties such as the AfD, which was recently evident in the European elections: “We want to give employees more freedom to get involved in democratic activities” – whether during or outside of working hours. Benner calls this democracy time. Companies could, for example, give their employees time off so that they can get involved in parties and democratic initiatives. Employees could also come together and discuss the direction of their company with management. “The best way to combat the right is to give people the opportunity to participate in decisions about their future, which is about their jobs. We need to discuss in this collective bargaining round how exactly we can shape this democracy time for employees.”
