Press Release No. 01/2013 IG Metall Calls for an Offer in the Collective Bargaining Round for the Woodworking Industry – Demonstration...

Cologne – Shortly before the start of the second round of collective bargaining negotiations in the woodworking industry, IG Metall has called on employers to finally present a negotiable offer. “Otherwise, we will increase the pressure with workplace actions and warning strikes,” said Helga Schwitzer, executive board member of IG Metall, at a protest rally on the sidelines of the International Furniture Fair in Cologne. “Workers deserve to share appropriately in the industry’s economic success. Through their efforts, they make a decisive contribution to the industry’s sound economic development.”

To underscore their demands, more than 1,000 workers in the woodworking industry from all over Germany demonstrated this morning on the sidelines of the International Furniture Fair in Cologne. The protest march wound its way around the fairgrounds and ended with a rally at the Tanzbrunnen. “There is room for a substantial wage increase,” said Schwitzer. “This year, sales will grow at a faster rate than in the economy as a whole. We will once again reach the level seen in the boom year of 2008.”

IG Metall, which represents the approximately 120,000 workers in the woodworking industry, is demanding a 5 percent wage increase and an additional 60 euros for apprentices over a 12-month period. The first round of negotiations in December ended without a resolution. The second round of negotiations begins on January 25.