Frankfurt am Main – On the occasion of its 21st Federal Skilled Trades Conference, IG Metall is calling for the skilled trades to be made more attractive as a career path. “The skilled trades must become more attractive to young people. This can only be achieved with good working conditions. This includes greater adherence to collective bargaining agreements as well as more attractive training and continuing education opportunities,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Saturday in Frankfurt.
Of the young journeymen and journeywomen in the metal and electrical trades, only 33 percent remain in the companies. Thirty-five percent go directly into industry. The IG Metall chairman sees one reason for this in the fact that many trades lack collective bargaining agreements and offer poor working conditions. To make the skilled trades more attractive to employees, Hofmann called for a clear commitment by all stakeholders to collective bargaining autonomy. “It is not enough for the umbrella organization to commit to collective bargaining autonomy if, at the same time, many state leaders are perpetuating poor working conditions. Securing a skilled workforce cannot succeed this way. IG Metall is taking responsibility for the skilled trades, but it also needs strong partners on the employer side,” the union leader explained.
Digitalization will transform business areas and job roles in the skilled trades. This presents both opportunities and risks. “A quarter of skilled trades businesses fear for their survival. That’s why we need more co-determination, because through works councils and collective bargaining agreements, we can shape the upcoming changes,” said Ralf Kutzner, the executive board member of IG Metall responsible for the skilled trades. “Businesses must continue to be made aware of these issues and provided with technical support. At the same time, new qualifications must be incorporated into job profiles, and employees must receive comprehensive further training.” IG Metall and the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts have committed in a joint statement to jointly mastering the challenges posed by digitalization and innovation, said Kutzner.
Kutzner criticized the EU’s proposed services package. He argued that these directives would introduce the country-of-origin principle through the back door. German authorities would then no longer be able to monitor the standards by which service providers offer their services in Germany, Kutzner criticized. “This will open the floodgates to dumping on construction sites. At the same time, planned encroachments on national sovereignty in the area of regulated master craftsman training will jeopardize the skilled trades’ capacity for innovation, which is needed for important future projects such as the energy and transportation transitions.”
At the IG Metall Skilled Trades Conference, Brigitte Zypries, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Holger Schwannecke, Secretary General of the German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH), and Jörg Hofmann discussed the future prospects of the skilled trades sector before an audience of approximately 150 works council members and industry representatives.
