Press Release No. 22/2015 IG Metall: Collective bargaining agreement is an important step toward shaping the world of work and stabilizing...

Böblingen – IG Metall has described the collective bargaining agreement for the 800,000 employees in the metal and electrical industries in Baden-Württemberg as forward-looking: “With today’s collective bargaining agreement, we are stabilizing the economy in Germany. At the same time, it is an important step toward shaping the world of work,” said Detlef Wetzel, President of IG Metall, on Tuesday in Böblingen. With a 3.4 percent wage increase over a 12-month period and a one-time payment of 150 euros for three months, IG Metall is securing a significant real wage increase for the workforce, Wetzel explained.

On the issue of partial retirement, the union succeeded in improving the existing collective bargaining agreement. Employees in the lower pay grades will be better off. “They will now receive approximately 90 percent of their net pay and can thus afford the well-deserved transition out of working life,” said the President. In addition, IG Metall successfully thwarted the employers’ attempt to reduce the eligibility quota: “The four-percent quota remains in place.”

Unused funds from the partial retirement collective bargaining agreement could be used for continuing education programs in the future. “This marks a first important step toward subsidized part-time education. Further steps must follow. The employers’ veto no longer exists,” said Wetzel. The opportunity for personal continuing education has created an important building block for the industry and its employees. In addition, the parties to the collective bargaining agreement have jointly agreed on models for the continuing education of unskilled and semi-skilled workers.

Wetzel emphasized that the funding and employees’ entitlement to continuing education must apply nationwide. Due to differing collective bargaining provisions regarding continuing education, the outcome of the negotiations in North Rhine-Westphalia should serve as the basis for other collective bargaining regions. In those regions, access to personal continuing education would be resolved through a collective bargaining conciliation board in the event of a dispute. In Baden-Württemberg, an individual dispute resolution mechanism had been agreed upon.

Wetzel expressly thanked the warning strike participants. “The more than 850,000 metalworkers made today’s outcome possible through the nationwide pressure of their warning strikes and actions. We are capable of taking action and making a difference across the board. That is and remains the central prerequisite for our successful and reliable collective bargaining policy,” said Wetzel.