Berlin – IG Metall has called for a shift toward a “Welfare State 4.0.” “The welfare state must adapt to the challenges of tomorrow’s world of work while simultaneously plugging the gaps created by unfulfilled promises of security and justice,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Friday at the start of the two-day “Welfare State 4.0” conference in Berlin.
The 400 participants discussed the requirements for a modern welfare state model with representatives from politics and academia and presented their key points. Massive changes in skill requirements in the wake of digitalization and globalization—such as the widespread adoption of electric mobility—require the further development of standards for protection and organization in the workplace.
The IG Metall chairman cited a shift away from current labor market policies—which focus solely on placing people in jobs as quickly as possible—as a prerequisite. “The comprehensive and ever-accelerating transformation of value chains is an indisputable fact: new products, new processes, and new business models on the one hand; the elimination of jobs and even the closure of businesses on the other. This requires the welfare state to shape these constant transformations in the world of work in a fair and secure manner.”
The union leader pointed out that education and training are the crucial foundations of a functioning democracy. At the same time, they are the key to the digital economy. “That is why learning, education, and continuing education throughout one’s entire working life must be linked to an individual legal entitlement,” Hofmann demanded. Access to education and continuing education must become a matter of course as a public good. “At no point in its history has the welfare state simply fallen from the sky. It has always been the result of political and union activities. The welfare state has always had to be ‘built,’” said Hofmann during the closing discussion with Federal Minister of Labor Andrea Nahles and Prof. Jutta Allmendinger, President of the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB).
Andrea Nahles, Federal Minister of Labor: “It is up to us to ensure that justice prevails in the working world of the future—fair wages, good and healthy working conditions, and opportunities for participation. That is why our shared goal must be to take action and shape the future. This includes strengthening collective bargaining coverage and social partnership once again. It also includes achieving fair and self-determined working hours—and maintaining them in the working world of the future. Third, education and continuing education are central: We need legally guaranteed rights in this area; the Federal Employment Agency (BA) can and must become the Federal Agency for Employment and Qualification.”
Prof. Jutta Allmendinger pointed out that, due to the higher demands on education and continuing education, life paths must be structured differently: “Over the course of decades, there will repeatedly be phases in which men and women work fewer hours and, in return, do more family work, pursue continuing education, or learn an entirely new profession. Policymakers, companies, and unions—but also every individual and every family—must help shape this change.”
With an eye toward the 2017 federal election, conference participants discussed policy demands that could significantly improve opportunities for shaping workplace conditions. In addition, IG Metall will give employees the opportunity to articulate their policy demands as part of another employee survey early next year.
