Press Release No. 43/2016 IG Metall Welcomes Agreement in the Coalition Committee on the Pay Equity Act

Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall has welcomed the agreement reached today in the coalition committee on the Wage Equity Act. “The draft bill is an important first step toward greater pay equity and transparency. Now we need to quickly turn the draft into a workable law, because unequal pay for work of equal value no longer fits into the modern working world of the 21st century,” said Christiane Benner, Second Chair of IG Metall, on Thursday in Frankfurt. The draft bill also strengthens the collective bargaining parties. “Where works councils have a say and where collective bargaining agreements apply, we see significantly less discrimination. The pay gap is smaller there,” emphasized Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall. “Collective bargaining agreements clearly contribute to greater gender equality, and the law recognizes that.”

Benner welcomed the fact that the individual right to information is to apply to all employees in companies with 200 or more workers. “The legally mandated individual right to information is an effective tool for uncovering and eliminating pay disparities between men and women,” said the union representative. The Union had originally wanted to raise the threshold to 500 employees.