Press Release No. 31/2018 IG Metall Welcomes Federal Labor Minister’s Pension Pact

Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall has welcomed the pension pact proposed by Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil. “This will halt the decline in statutory old-age pension benefits and stabilize the pension level,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Friday in Frankfurt. Hubertus Heil’s plans call for freezing the pension level at 48 percent through 2025.

However, the pension pact can only be a start. “The pension level must be raised again in the long term. That is what we expect from the findings of the Pension Commission,” said Hofmann. “The statutory pension system must also adapt to the digital transformation and new forms of work.”

According to Hans-Jürgen Urban, the executive board member responsible for pensions, this would require, as a first step, that all solo self-employed individuals—and in the future, all working people—be included in the statutory pension system. Urban welcomed the improvements to disability pensions. However, he noted that these should apply not only to future retirees but also to those who are already unable to work due to health reasons.

Urban expects the Pension Commission to make the old-age pension system future-proof and to set the course for an adequate pension that both young and older people can rely on. “The old-age pension system is too important to provoke a conflict between the generations,” said Urban.