Press Release No. 31/2016 IG Metall: Collective bargaining agreements and transparent pay grading promote pay equity more effectively than...

Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall has sharply criticized the conclusions of the German Economic Institute in its study published today on the gender pay gap. “There is certainly a need for action regarding the unequal pay of women and men. It is simply not a private decision when women are unable to work full-time and advance their careers due to a lack of child care options, employee-unfriendly work schedules, and companies’ excessive expectations regarding the unlimited availability of their employees,” said Christiane Benner, Second Chair of IG Metall, on Monday in Frankfurt. Career choices and professional paths are by no means always self-determined, but are unfortunately still often the result of discriminatory structures and traditional gender roles.

Legislative measures as well as efforts by the collective bargaining parties are needed to overcome gender inequality in the labor market, said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall. “The market won’t fix this on its own.” According to the Federal Statistical Office, for example, the introduction of the statutory minimum wage for low-wage earners has already led not only to higher wages overall but also to a reduction in the wage gap for women. Beyond legal regulations, the IG Metall president sees collective bargaining agreements in particular as a strong guarantee for greater equality in the labor market. “In companies with collective bargaining agreements, the wage gap between women and men is significantly smaller than in companies not bound by such agreements,” said Hofmann, citing studies from last year by the Institute for Economic and Social Research at the Hans Böckler Foundation. The binding guidelines for classification into collective bargaining pay grades contribute significantly to greater gender equality. “Even in workplaces where works councils have a say, there is significantly less discrimination. We therefore need a strong interplay between legislation and collective bargaining policy, a high rate of collective bargaining coverage, and greater employee participation in decision-making to achieve pay equity.” An individual right to information on comparable pay supports women in companies without a works council and without a collective bargaining agreement. Eighty percent of all working women are employed in companies with fewer than 500 employees. “A right to information must not be limited to companies with more than 500 employees,” said Hofmann.