Press Release No. 42/2016 IG Metall President Jörg Hofmann Elected President of IndustriAll Global Union

Rio de Janeiro/Frankfurt am Main – Delegates to IndustriAll Global Union, the global umbrella organization for industrial unions, elected Jörg Hofmann, First Chairman of IG Metall, as president on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, IG Metall announced on Thursday in Frankfurt. “The increasingly division-of-labor-based and flexible production in the ‘global factory’ poses new challenges for the labor movement. Multinational corporations are the winners of globalization, while workers in many countries are among the losers,” the union leader criticized. He pointed out that insecure and precarious jobs are not only widespread in emerging and developing countries, but also exist in industrialized nations. “Whether through temporary agency work, contract work, or ‘zero-hour contracts’: all over the world, employers demand flexibility but, in return, deny security and stability. We cannot and will not accept this.”

It is therefore becoming increasingly important for unions to intensify their global activities in order to effectively defend human rights, workers’ rights, and trade union rights. In recent years, IndustriAll Global Union has already established highly successful networks with workers and works councils. “They are a cornerstone of cross-border solidarity and joint strategy development,” said Hofmann. Efforts to conclude framework agreements will also continue in order to enforce union rights and collective bargaining worldwide. Other goals include the fight against precarious employment and the promotion of a sustainable industrial policy.

IndustriAll Global Union, the global federation of industrial unions, was founded in 2012 and represents approximately 50 million union members from 140 countries who are employed in companies in the metal and electrical, chemical, and textile industries, as well as in mining and the energy sector. The IndustriAll Global Union Congress will take place in Rio de Janeiro from October 4 to 7, 2016, with 1,498 delegates participating.