We can achieve the transition to a climate-neutral industry. This requires investments in the future of our industrial sites, in our regions, in secure jobs, and in concrete prospects for workers.
In short: Our country’s prosperity depends on it.
IG Metall expects the incoming federal government to:
1. Secure pathways to the workforce of tomorrow—no layoffs during the transition!
- We demand the right to a second vocational training through an expansion of training support, so that working people can pursue a second vocational training program or a degree in new professional fields—without losing pay.
- We need a “transition short-time work allowance” that guarantees wage replacement and financial support for continuing vocational education during short-time work, in order to prevent layoffs and qualify employees for new tasks. This also includes extending eligibility for ALG I to 24 months.
- As part of our future collective bargaining agreements, the 4-day workweek can help secure employment. We therefore call for tax incentives for the 4-day workweek by making collective bargaining-based wage-compensation subsidies tax-exempt.
- Transfer short-time work must be made sustainable for the future—by extending eligibility for transfer short-time work benefits to 24 months. Only within this timeframe will many colleagues be able to complete viable training or retraining. For employees nearing retirement, secure transitions into retirement are needed.
- As a key element of employment policy, we also call for better support—including financial support—for employment agencies serving industries and companies undergoing transformation.
- A further increase in the retirement age would mean even more pension cuts for many people. This is socially unjust. And it reduces acceptance of the necessary restructuring of our industries. We demand a permanent retirement age of 63 after 45 years of contributions!
2. Sustainable jobs and secure training—at our sites, in our regions! Climate protection is only possible with good jobs.
One thing must be clear: Tax funds for companies should only be provided in exchange for secure, sustainable employment. Industrial value creation must take place at German and European locations—across the entire value chain, from research and development to production and assembly. Government funding must be based on binding criteria:
- Employment and investment commitments, and workforcetraining.
- A prerequisite must also be the safeguarding of vocational training —through mandatory training quotas for subsidized companies and the mandatory hiring of trainees.
- A concrete plan must be a prerequisite —within the framework of a future collective bargaining agreement, with company-level agreements. This must also include measures to upskill employees. Future collective bargaining agreements should be promoted through better depreciation terms for investments that create jobs.
- The ecological transition must be driven forward by strengthening corporate sustainability initiatives and promoting resource-conserving repair, recycling, and the circular economy.
Good jobs come from greater collective bargaining coverage and strong worker participation —and IG Metall is championing this through its “Mitbestimmung” initiative. The government can support this effort:
- By making direct collective bargaining coverage a prerequisite for public procurement and statutory preferential treatment. In the event of company splits, collective bargaining coverage must remain in effect.
- Our colleagues need more rights to co-determination regarding job security, site preservation, and skills development. Negotiations on a reconciliation of interests must—unlike at present—be made enforceable in the event of operational changes.
- Efforts to circumvent or prevent co-determination must be effectively combated! We need more rights for more employees in more companies. Therefore: lower the thresholds for parity-based co-determination to 1,000 employees and implement arbitration procedures instead of granting the supervisory board chair a double vote.
The success of the transformation will be determined in the regions— and by the framework conditions set in Brussels and Berlin. We therefore call for:
- A clear rejection of subsidy competition in Europe at the expense of Germany’s industrial regions. We need a European industrial and structural policy that consistently promotes key technologies (such as semiconductors, battery cells, and hydrogen)—and provides for industrialization at existing locations. This requires a swift reform of European state aid law.
- The introduction of an effective border adjustment mechanism at Europe’s external borders to ensure that our environmental and social standards are not undermined.
- The participation of workers and civil society, businesses, and public institutions in the development of regional transformation projects must be encouraged. Public funding for these projects must be continued and expanded.
- We call for the rapid implementation and continuation of the funding programs already launched for continuing education and skills development clusters in the transformation regions, as well as integration with the funding instruments for continuing education.
3. Public investment in infrastructure and in the restructuring of our industries—and reliable framework conditions!
We want CO2-free mobility, but also affordable and accessible mobility options in both urban and rural areas. The following steps toward a comprehensive mobility transition must be addressed promptly:
- We need to accelerate the expansion of charging stations with a binding expansion plan so that infrastructure development keeps pace with the rapid rise of electric mobility. For sectors such as commercial vehicles, air transport, and the maritime industry, we need to remain open to alternative CO2-free propulsion systems beyond battery-electric technology.
- We call for a massive investment program in rail and public transit with the goal of establishing a multimodal, user-friendly, and environmentally sound mobility system in both urban and rural areas. Germany must become a hub for state-of-the-art rail and infrastructure technology. To this end, the DSZF should be provided with greater financial resources.
- On the path to climate-neutral aviation , a new high-tech initiative for the aerospace industry is needed , with the aviation research program expanded and focused on ecological funding priorities and integrated into the promotion of the hydrogen strategy.
The following steps are necessary to ensure the success of the energy transition through binding expansion targets for renewable energy and the development of the necessary grid and storage infrastructure:
- By 2030, 70 percent of energy demand must be met by renewable energy sources. This requires a binding commitment to allocate additional land and to accelerate planning and permitting procedures .
- Electricity prices must be reduced. Therefore: Abolish the EEG surcharge and finance it through taxes; lower the electricity tax; and review all levies and surcharges on the price of electricity.
- In the construction of energy facilities and power plants, new energy technologies must be promoted, for example, for high-temperature heat, combined heat and power, high-capacity storage, or carbon utilization in industry.
We are convinced: Steel has a future! Germany and Europe will continue to need a basic materials industry integrated into industrial value chains tomorrow as well. The following steps toward a CO2-free basic materials industry must be taken urgently:
- The transition to CO2-free production processes requires government support through a Steel Transformation Fund (amounting to 10 billion euros by 2030).
- The hydrogen infrastructure must be established and expanded as quickly as possible. By 2030, electrolyzer capacity should reach at least 10 gigawatts.
- The operation of electrolysis plants must be supported based on the Carbon Contracts for Difference concept.
We need a digitalization push, with an expanded and reliable digital infrastructure and a sovereign European ecosystem.
- We call for binding expansion plans for the network infrastructure to establish a nationwide 5G network, with the goal of achieving 100 percent coverage by the end of the legislative term.
- European cloud solutions must be promoted; investments in appropriate server farms ensure compliance with data security and data protection requirements.
- We call for a master plan to boost digital literacy in schools, government agencies, and, in particular, small and medium-sized businesses. This should include a nationwide continuing education program to provide basic knowledge (“Digital Literacy Certificate”).
4. Solidarity-based financing—distribute burdens and costs fairly, and make those who profited from the crisis pay their share!
- For the next 10 years, IG Metall calls for additional public investment totaling 50billion euros annually. The debt brake must be adjusted accordingly.
- To meet the challenge of decarbonization, we need a transformation fund for future technologies and the environmentally sustainable (further) development of industrial sites in our regions—with an initial budget of 120 billion euros.
- Small and medium-sized enterprises and suppliers in the mobility sectors and related mechanical engineering industries, in particular, need support—to finance investments in new business models, for networking and consulting services, in training and thus in secure prospects for good jobs, and in the restructuring of products, production processes, and value chains.
- We need a fair distribution of the burden. This begins with a reform of the tax system. The top tax rate should be raised to 49 percent, and the wealth tax to 52 percent. Raising the standard deduction will provide relief for low- and middle-income earners. The flat capital gains tax should be abolished, and a wealth tax must be reintroduced.
Our Demands for the New Federal Government (PDF, 5 pages)
