PRESS RELEASE IG Metall: Work-life balance must also be addressed in collective bargaining agreements

Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall sees the ongoing collective bargaining round in the metal and electrical industry as an opportunity to advance the issues of gender equality and work-life balance. At the union’s Women’s Works Council Day in Hanover, IG Metall President Christiane Benner stated: “Collective bargaining agreements create transparency and security for employees and ensure fair pay. With collective bargaining, women earn significantly more! In the metal and electrical industry, they earn as much as 1,400 euros more per month.”

Collective bargaining agreements are also important for achieving a better work-life balance. That is why this issue will also be addressed in the current round of collective bargaining in the metal and electrical industries. The focus is on the demand for a 7% pay increase and an additional 170 euros for apprentices. Christiane Benner emphasized: “The option for particularly overburdened employees to exchange pay for additional days off is a concrete response to employees’ concerns and needs to better manage the balance between family, volunteer work, and their careers. We must therefore urgently discuss how the entitlement to this time off can be extended to more people.”

At IG Metall’s Women’s Works Council Day, around 300 women works council members from all over Germany are exchanging views with one another and with experts on current gender equality issues. “Against the backdrop of the current economic challenges, it is IG Metall’s responsibility to ensure that gender equality remains on the agenda—both in companies and in politics.”

Several upcoming events will draw attention to the state of gender equality in Germany. 
Workplace Equal Pay Day on October 25 marks the date on which men could stop working and still earn as much as women.
The Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25 highlights that far too many women still suffer from discrimination and experiences of psychological and physical violence.
The fight for greater pay equity and against discrimination is at the top of the agenda for the women on the works councils of IG Metall.