PRESS STATEMENT IG Metall supports preventive measures to protect against COVID-19

Jörg Hofmann: “IG Metall supports the preventive measures being taken today in some companies to protect production workers from the spread of the coronavirus and, where possible, to temporarily suspend production. While office workers can largely respond by working from home, in many areas of production there is no other alternative to protect workers to the same extent. A prerequisite for such action is that employers provide subsidies to ensure net wage protection during short-time work. To the extent that these are not already regulated by collective bargaining agreements, IG Metall offers to establish corresponding regulations at short notice. Otherwise, production workers face net wage losses of up to 40 percent during short-time work. On this issue as well, production workers must not be disadvantaged compared to other employee groups who have the option to work remotely. Companies in the automotive industry that announced the shutdown of their plants today have corresponding regulations in place. It is now up to the employers’ associations to establish comprehensive regulations across the board at short notice.”

Further information and press photos of Jörg Hofmann