Frankfurt am Main – In her first speech following her election, the new First Chair of IG Metall, Christiane Benner, highlighted the opportunities presented by industrial transformation, reaffirmed IG Metall’s commitment to shaping the future, and called on policymakers to take responsibility. She sharply criticized the behavior of some employers during this transformation.
“Not everything will stay the way it is today. Jobs and companies are changing. Mathematically speaking, the transition will turn out well. There would be enough jobs in the green industry,” Benner emphasized, referring to the climate-friendly restructuring of industry and the upheavals caused by digitalization. But instead of seizing these opportunities, many employers took the easy way out and moved jobs abroad, Benner criticized. “Those who simply destroy jobs instead of thinking about alternatives in a timely manner are driving people into a future without prospects. We must stop this creeping deindustrialization of Germany,” Benner said in her keynote address on the future at the 25th IG Metall Union Congress in Frankfurt am Main.
Benner expressed her conviction that transformation by no means automatically means the decline of industry; rather, new markets, sectors, and business models are emerging, as she illustrated using the example of e-mobility. In this sector, she noted, new jobs are being created not only at the automakers themselves but also in battery plants, the circular economy, recycling, and the digital management of mobility. “We have a clear goal: Every worker deserves a future. We will fight for that,” Benner promised.
To achieve this goal, IG Metall is calling for stronger co-determination rights for workers, particularly regarding the strategic direction of businesses and companies—such as in workforce planning, staffing levels, and training. “We need expanded rights that serve to secure jobs and finally guarantee an enforceable reconciliation of interests,” Benner demanded.
This expanded co-determination would have an impact far beyond individual companies and could counteract growing uncertainty and disillusionment with politics. “More democracy in the workplace leads to more democracy in our society. Those who experience democracy effectively in the workplace also have a more positive attitude toward democracy overall,” Benner stated with conviction. She called on policymakers to adapt the laws on co-determination in workplaces and companies to the new era: “The world is spinning faster and faster. That’s why standing still on co-determination is, in truth, a step backward.”
Keynote address on the future by Christiane Benner, First Chair of IG Metall, at the 25th Regular Union Congress in Frankfurt
