Workers on short-time work receive a good 80 percent or more of their normal net pay—and not just the statutory 60 percent (67 percent for those with children). This applies not only to the OEMs (the major companies in the metal and electrical industries) but also to their service providers, such as those in the logistics sector. Nationwide, IG Metall and works councils have negotiated agreements in recent days and weeks under which employers will supplement their employees’ short-time work benefits.
This top-up to short-time work benefits is especially vital for employees at service providers. Their wages—on which the employment agency bases its calculation of short-time work benefits—are already significantly lower than those of employees at OEMs.
“For me, the top-up means a full fridge for a month,” David Glasow calculates. He works at Stute Logistics in Hall 70 on the Daimler plant grounds in Bremen. “I’m glad the works council and IG Metall were able to pull this off. It’s just not right that companies are getting billions because of the COVID-19 crisis—while the average worker is left with empty pockets.”
80 percent instead of 60 percent of normal net pay
The works council and IG Metall negotiated hard for days to secure the top-up to the short-time work allowance at Stute. “The employer wanted employees to first use up hours from their time accounts and take vacation time. So we said: No, we won’t just pass the business risk on to the employees,” reports works council chair Hüseyin Aydin. “Management threatened layoffs for operational reasons. But we showed them that it would actually end up costing them more—and we stood our ground until the very end.”
Employees at Stute’s other locations in Bremen, Cuxhaven, Hamburg, and Stade are now also benefiting from the firm stance taken by the Stute works council at Daimler in Bremen: Together with IG Metall, they secured a collective bargaining agreement providing top-up pay for short-time work for everyone: Employees receive 78.5 percent of their normal net pay without children—and 82.5 percent with children.
IG Metall and works councils have also secured similar agreements with other service providers in Bremen: 80 percent at Lorel Logistik, RCL Automotive, and Pfenning Logistics; 80 to 85 percent at Würfel Automotive.
Salary Below 1,000 Euros Without Top-Up
Employees at the contract logistics provider Rudolph in Leipzig, which works for Porsche and BMW, also receive up to 85 percent. “Without the top-up, our people would be taking home less than 1,000 euros,” explains Jens Grube, chairman of the Rudolph works council at Porsche. “We would have liked more. But it’s a fair compromise. Our employees are glad that we’re getting something. Their friends in other industries aren’t getting anything at all.”
The works councils at Rudolph, with the support of IG Metall Leipzig, negotiated tenaciously for days to secure the top-up—via conference calls due to the pandemic. The phones at IG Metall Leipzig have been ringing off the hook in recent days. At 34 companies, IG Metall and works councils have secured more money for a total of 21,500 employees on short-time work—a large portion of them at service providers.
Similar arrangements at service providers nationwide
IG Metall has secured similar arrangements at many other service providers nationwide, particularly at nearly all logistics firms serving major automakers, where employees began organizing within IG Metall, electing works councils, and fighting for collective bargaining agreements years ago. At industry giant Schnellecke, for example, a nationwide arrangement applies to all locations: a top-up to 80 percent—and, depending on the region, a merchandise voucher worth 44 euros per month on top of that.
“We coordinated our negotiations nationwide via video conferences,” explains Sascha Hahn of IG Metall Zwickau, who is responsible for Schnellecke in Glauchau, a service provider for VW Saxony. “It was clear to us: No one here will be sent home with 60 or 67 percent.”
IG Metall is also calling for top-ups for short-time workers in Berlin
It’s good that companies want to weather the COVID-19 crisis with short-time work instead of layoffs. And it’s right for policymakers to waive all social security contributions for employers to facilitate short-time work. But many employers aren’t passing on any of this benefit to their employees—not even the employee’s share of social security contributions. That means up to 40 percent less pay for employees on short-time work.
IG Metall will not accept that the burdens of the COVID-19 crisis are being shifted unilaterally onto employees. In Berlin, it is demanding that employers only be fully exempted from social security contributions if they top up their employees’ short-time work benefits. But the CDU and CSU are blocking this.
Top-ups where IG Metall is strong
That is why IG Metall continues to work with works councils to secure top-ups in workplaces. This is particularly successful in workplaces where IG Metall is strong—with many members, effective works councils, and collective bargaining agreements.
“The top-ups to short-time work benefits in our workplaces didn’t just fall from the sky,” explains Bernd Kruppa, chief representative of IG Metall Leipzig. “We’ve been working toward this here in Leipzig for 15 years—and, together with the workers, we’ve recruited IG Metall members, established works councils, and fought for collective bargaining agreements. That’s the foundation that’s allowing us to secure more for workers now during the COVID-19 crisis.”
