Press Release No. 18/2018 Employers refuse to negotiate a settlement – IG Metall Executive Board decides on full-day warning strikes

Stuttgart – The fifth round of collective bargaining in Baden-Württemberg ended without a resolution today. As a result, the IG Metall Executive Board has decided to call on workers in the metal and electrical industries to participate in full-day warning strikes as early as next week. In addition, preparations are to be made for strike ballots on area-wide strikes. “The employers have clearly been deliberately seeking an escalation and never had any intention of reaching an agreement. This was evident from the fact that they did not make sufficient concessions today—neither on pay nor on working hours—to make a compromise possible. It is irresponsible to block the long-overdue modernization of the workplace and to deny workers a fair share of economic success,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Saturday in Stuttgart. “Workers in the metal and electrical industries will not stand for this. The bottom line is: If you won’t move, you’ll be pushed.”

960,000 workers say yes to the demands

With these full-day warning strikes, IG Metall aims to increase pressure on employers to move toward a viable compromise in the collective bargaining dispute. Holding the full-day warning strikes requires a positive vote by members in the selected companies. In this case—unlike with the short warning strikes—IG Metall members receive financial support from their union.

Nationwide, approximately 960,000 workers have so far supported IG Metall’s demands in this round of collective bargaining for a 6 percent pay increase, the right to work reduced full-time hours, and subsidies for workers in certain life situations.