PRESS STATEMENT IG Metall on the amendment to the Crafts and Trades Act: A missed opportunity to increase collective bargaining coverage

Ralf Kutzner, Executive Board Member of IG Metall:

“The revision of the Crafts and Trades Act could and should have done more to strengthen collective bargaining coverage in the skilled trades. Unfortunately, policymakers have largely let this opportunity slip by.

The skilled trades sector has a problem with collective bargaining coverage, not an image problem. The public increasingly perceives the skilled trades as an industry where working conditions are poorer. This is one reason why there is a shortage of 65,000 skilled workers, as shown by a recent study from the Competence Center for Securing Skilled Workers. In this context, it is significant that only 30 percent of employees are now covered by a collective bargaining agreement. As a result, the wage gap compared to other sectors of the economy averages 20 percent, and working hours are comparatively inflexible. It is therefore not surprising that nearly two-thirds of young journeymen in the metalworking and electrical trades are leaving for other industries. Despite the COVID-19 crisis, more than 5,500 master craftsman positions in the skilled trades currently remain unfilled.

Under pressure from IG Metall, the new Crafts Code includes some groundbreaking measures. Overall, however, the law falls short of what is urgently needed in the interests of workers.

“We will therefore bring our demands into the election campaign and continue to advocate for a modern Crafts Code, greater collective bargaining coverage, better working conditions, and more democracy in the skilled trades.”
 

Further information and press photos of Ralf Kutzner