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Welfare State Congress: What It’s About Reshaping the welfare state

IG Metall is discussing what the welfare state of the future should look like. In the run-up to the federal election, it is developing its demands for a “Welfare State 4.0.” The goal: Work and life must continue to be secure, fair, and self-determined in the future.

Soziales, Menschen, Politik
Foto: iStock.com/Connel_Design

26 October 2016 26 October 2016

Employment in Germany is at a record high, and unemployment is at its lowest level in 25 years. Nevertheless, many workers are experiencing uncertainty and increasing pressure in the workplace and fear for their social security. Digitalization, globalization, and new forms of business and work organization are not only creating new forms of employment; they are also leading to inequalities and injustices. At the same time, people have diverse expectations regarding their working lives and the balance between good work and a good life.

How do we want to live? How do we want to work? People expect answers to these questions. IG Metall, together with works council members and IG Metall staff and volunteers, aims to find answers to these questions under the motto “Welfare State 4.0: Secure, Fair, and Self-Determined” on October 27–28, 2016, in Berlin.

At the congress, IG Metall will analyze the problems and challenges. And it will discuss the many concrete successes and examples that demonstrate, on a small scale, what the big solutions might look like. The goal of the congress is to develop what the union can contribute to the welfare state of tomorrow. But it will also clearly articulate what policymakers must do to achieve this.