PRESS RELEASE NO. 17/2021 IG Metall: Do not water down the Supply Chain Act during the parliamentary process

Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall warns against watering down the Supply Chain Act during the parliamentary process or even allowing it to fail. This warning comes ahead of the first reading of the Supply Chain Act tomorrow in the German Bundestag.

IG Metall expressly welcomes the draft bill. “The paradigm shift from voluntary commitments regarding corporate human rights due diligence to a statutory framework is within reach. We need this law so that we can finally take a significant step toward ensuring humane working conditions throughout the supply chain,” said Wolfgang Lemb, executive board member of IG Metall.

The draft bill now before the Bundestag is a long-negotiated interministerial compromise, which is why it also contains weaknesses that IG Metall clearly criticizes. Further watering down and thus weakening of the provisions in the draft bill must be prevented during the parliamentary process.

IG Metall is calling for the new regulations to also cover companies whose headquarters are not located in Germany. This would, for example, bring large tech conglomerates that earn substantial profits from their business activities in Germany within the scope of the law. It would also ensure that German companies are not at a disadvantage compared to corporations headquartered abroad.

When it comes to risk management, greater involvement of unions and works councils in Germany, as well as of employees and their local representative bodies, is necessary. Here, too, IG Metall sees a need for improvement and calls for more participation rights for works councils and unions at all levels.

In March, after tough negotiations, the federal government agreed for the first time on a compromise proposal under which German companies would be held more accountable for working conditions and environmental standards at their foreign suppliers. The goal is to establish human rights, labor, and environmental standards throughout the supply chain.

Further information and press photos of Wolfgang Lemb