Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This crisis calls for solutions based on solidarity. What matters now is that workers are given security,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Friday in Frankfurt. He welcomed the collective bargaining agreement for North Rhine-Westphalia. “We have concluded a collective bargaining agreement that protects jobs and incomes and allows parents to care for their children when daycare centers and schools are closed. This agreement helps mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis and strengthens social cohesion.”
By acting swiftly, the parties to the collective bargaining agreement are demonstrating how much a partnership between strong unions and employer associations can achieve for people. “This agreement relieves millions of workers of the fear of massive income losses due to short-time work.” IG Metall announced that it would seek to implement similar sector-wide regulations in other industries in the near future.
The collective bargaining agreement includes the following points:
- Short-time work arrangements that can ensure employees’ net pay remains at approximately 80 percent for the first few months. This is achieved by phasing out special payments and through an employer subsidy of €350 per full-time employee.
- In the event of daycare and school closures, parents with children up to age twelve can take eight days off for childcare instead of receiving the collective bargaining-mandated additional pay. In addition, in 2020, employees will receive at least five days off for childcare—where absolutely necessary—without these days being counted toward vacation time, and their pay will continue to be paid.
The collective bargaining agreements take effect immediately and may be terminated as of December 31, 2020. The IG Metall Executive Board has since approved the negotiation results and recommended their nationwide adoption, taking regional conditions into account.
Hofmann repeatedly criticized the federal government’s handling of the short-time work crisis program. “Unfortunately, we must acknowledge that we will not be able to provide comprehensive protection for workers across the board in the way we have now agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreements. In all companies without collective bargaining agreements and in sectors without strong collective bargaining partnerships, people are left out in the cold. No family budget can withstand a sudden reduction in income of over 40 percent. While policymakers are providing billions in aid packages for companies and self-employed individuals, millions of salaried employees remain unprotected. This has nothing to do with genuine social partnership.”
Hofmann emphasized that, with this crisis measure, the unresolved issues from the 2020 collective bargaining round remain on the agenda. “I’ve always said: We’re not making a ‘coronavirus deal.’ The major challenges of transformation remain on the agenda,” Hofmann stressed. “Once we’ve dealt with the immediate problems, we’ll turn our attention back to issues for the future.”
Following IG Metall’s proposal for a moratorium, discussions and negotiations took place regarding job security, skills development, and future collective bargaining agreements to address digitalization and transformation in the metal and electrical industries. Other topics, in addition to the wage increase, include the harmonization of working hours in the eastern federal states and collective bargaining provisions for dual-track students and apprentices.
IG Metall has put together a crisis relief package for the metal and electrical industries in North Rhine-Westphalia. The collective bargaining agreement helps cushion the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and strengthens social cohesion. “Even in the most difficult times, we have proven our ability to take action,” emphasizes Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, in a video statement. “IG Metall is a strong community.”
Watch Jörg Hofmann’s video statement
