Press Release No. 47/2016 IG Metall: The welfare state faces new challenges—a major shift in policy is needed

Berlin – According to IG Metall, the German welfare state faces new and serious challenges. “With advancing digitalization and globalization, the welfare state must ensure social cohesion and solidarity in our society more than ever before,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Thursday at the start of the Welfare State Congress in Berlin. This requires a new synergy between statutory regulations, collective bargaining agreements, and workplace co-determination. “This synergy is the best path toward a modern evolution of the welfare state.”

As an example, he cited the issue of working hours, which must be organized as self-determined and through employee participation as much as possible. Legislators must ensure minimum requirements in this area, which can then be shaped and improved by collective bargaining partners and company representatives in accordance with the respective needs of employees and day-to-day business operations. “The market alone will not solve this. Collective regulations based on union values and principles such as security, justice, and self-determination will continue to be necessary in the future,” said the union leader.

To make the welfare state fit for the future, a significant course correction is needed now. This involves shaping the future of work with a working hours policy that focuses on employees and their necessary training and continuing education in the age of digitalization. “Another goal is to preserve and strengthen the social security systems. This includes a strategic shift in pension policy that once again makes an adequate statutory pension a core objective of the welfare state, as well as a statutory health insurance system that is once again financed on a parity basis,” Hofmann said before an audience of about 400 participants from the worlds of business, politics, and academia.

The two-day Welfare State Congress centers on the exchange of concrete examples from workplaces and collective bargaining agreements on the topics of working hours, job security, pensions, and continuing education across a total of five discussion forums. “It is clear that while we as unions can resolve many issues, we also need certain framework conditions from policymakers to support collective bargaining and workplace solutions and to ensure social security for all,” said the IG Metall chairman. “That is why we also want to use this congress to make our demands on policymakers clear in the run-up to the federal election.”