PRESS RELEASE NO. 23/2020 Works councils call for secure supply chains in healthcare

Frankfurt am Main/Hanover – Shortages of protective gear, medications, and vaccines during the COVID-19 crisis highlighted the vulnerability of global supply chains. “The pandemic has shown how important safe and high-quality healthcare is for the people in our country. This requires reliable supply relationships in mechanical engineering, medical technology, and the pharmaceutical industry,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Monday in Frankfurt. Michael Vassiliadis, President of IG BCE, added: “Policymakers have recognized the problem, but now swift action is needed. We must identify key vulnerabilities in the value chains and sustainably strengthen production in Germany and Europe in these areas.”

Works council members from IG Metall and IG BCE are therefore calling on the federal government to secure value chains—and thereby also employment—in the manufacture of medical products and protective clothing. In a joint statement addressed to the Federal Ministries of Economics and Health, as well as the chairs of the Bundestag committees on Economics and Health (see attachment), the works councils call for ensuring support for investments in production facilities, research, manufacturing, and the supply of pharmaceuticals. In doing so, standards for decent work and climate protection must also be met. In the economic sectors directly affected by this—such as the textile, food, and packaging machinery industries, medical technology, and the pharmaceutical industry—nearly 400,000 women and men are employed in Germany.

The works councils of IG Metall and IG BCE view another key task as ensuring that sufficient quantities of vaccines against the coronavirus are produced and distributed as soon as an active ingredient has been identified. In this process, the market alone should not determine which manufacturers are commissioned to produce the vaccines and who receives them.

To the press release from IG Metall and IG BCE

To the joint statement by the works councils of IG Metall and IG BCE

Further information and press photos of Jörg Hofmann