Press Release No. 11/2012 IG Metall Demands 6.5 Percent for the Metal and Electrical Industries

Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall is demanding a 6.5 percent increase in wages and apprenticeship stipends for the approximately 3.6 million workers in the metal and electrical industries. The union’s executive board made this decision on Friday during an extraordinary meeting in Frankfurt, thereby confirming the proposals put forward by the regional bargaining committees. The agreement is to run for twelve months. “Our demand is economically reasonable and ensures that employees receive a fair share of economic growth,” said Berthold Huber, President of IG Metall, on Friday in Frankfurt.

Back in September, IG Metall had already adopted two additional demands. First, the permanent hiring of trainees in companies should become the norm, and opportunities for disadvantaged young people to complete apprenticeships should be promoted. Second, the union is calling for greater co-determination rights for works councils regarding the duration, deployment, and scope of temporary agency work. “These are three equally important demands for IG Metall. If necessary, we will take action on all three issues,” Huber emphasized.

In determining the amount of the demand, IG Metall bases its calculations on overall economic productivity and inflation trends. “Economic growth and wage increases must develop in parallel over the medium term,” said Helga Schwitzer, executive board member of IG Metall. For this reason, IG Metall is also taking into account the real-term development in 2011, against the backdrop of the last collective bargaining agreement. Last year was an extremely successful one for the metal and electrical industries. “A lasting wage increase ensures that the workforce shares in this great success and is therefore only fair,” said Schwitzer.

Negotiations will begin on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, in the collective bargaining regions of Baden-Württemberg, the Central Group (Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Thuringia), and Lower Saxony. The collective bargaining agreements expire on March 31, 2012. The peace obligation ends on Saturday, April 28, 2012.