Press Release No. 55/2015 Detlef Wetzel: IG Metall Gains Members and Influence

Frankfurt am Main – At the opening of its 23rd Regular Union Congress, IG Metall took stock of the past few years and reported positive results. “IG Metall’s membership is growing. We are gaining political and workplace influence,” said Detlef Wetzel, President of IG Metall, on Sunday at the Portalhaus at Messe Frankfurt. IG Metall also has no concerns about a lack of young members and, with more than 230,000 young members, is the largest political youth organization in Germany: “There’s not a trace of disillusionment with IG Metall.”

With regard to the current increase in refugee immigration, Wetzel announced that IG Metall would not allow refugees to become a new excuse for wage dumping. There have already been attempts by employers to pay refugees with low qualifications below the collective bargaining rate. However, IG Metall’s collective bargaining pay scales provide enough flexibility to ensure even the simplest industrial jobs are paid decently. “There’s no need to lower standards. Everyone has the right to a minimum wage or a collectively bargained wage,” said Wetzel.

At the political level, IG Metall intends to launch further initiatives to improve working conditions. “I promise the delegates that we will make full use of the constructive atmosphere between us and policymakers to push through further demands,” Wetzel announced. Among other things, the focus will be on putting an end to the abuse of contract-for-service agreements, promoting greater democracy within companies, and addressing what the future of industry will look like and what impact Industry 4.0 will have on workers.

On Sunday, IG Metall expects Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sigmar Gabriel as a guest; on Wednesday, Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel; and on Friday, Federal Minister of Labor Andrea Nahles. At the union convention, the 485 elected delegates of IG Metall will spend a week setting the course—both in terms of personnel and policy—for the next four years. Among other things, IG Metall intends to draft new working time models and regulatory proposals for the age of Industry 4.0, as well as to adopt an amendment to its bylaws that will allow solo self-employed workers to become members.

Note to editors:
Further information is available at: http://www.igmetall.de/presse and https://igm-gewerkschaftstag-2015.de/
Photos and résumés of the executive board members can be found here: https://www.igmetall.de/geschaeftsfuehrende-vorstandsmitglieder-945.htm