Ludwigsburg – Breakthrough in the collective bargaining dispute in the metal and electrical industry during the fifth round of negotiations: After 11 hours of talks late Thursday night, the bargaining parties in Baden-Württemberg reached a pilot agreement and agreed on a package consisting of permanent wage increases and an inflation adjustment bonus in two stages.
Employees will receive significantly more money in both 2023 and 2024: At the beginning of 2023, they will receive the first installment of the inflation adjustment bonus of 1,500 euros. In June of the same year, wages will increase by 5.2 percent. At the beginning of 2024, employees will receive the second installment of the inflation adjustment bonus of 1,500 euros. Wages will rise by 3.3 percent in May 2024. By then, wages will have increased by a total of 8.5 percent in two stages.
Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall: “Employees will soon have significantly more money in their pockets—and this will be permanent. Added to this is the tax- and contribution-free inflation adjustment bonus. Together—the inflation adjustment bonus and the percentage increase—these provide employees with tangible relief in the face of rising prices. And it was our colleagues who made both of these possible through their warning strikes. We owe them a huge thank you for their dedication.”
Employers had long hesitated to even present an offer, thereby provoking a major wave of warning strikes. As of today, Friday, around 900,000 metalworkers nationwide have temporarily walked off the job.
In light of the sharp rise in prices, IG Metall had successfully lobbied political circles in Berlin for tangible relief measures in parallel with the collective bargaining round. Hundreds of thousands of metalworkers advocated, among other things, for effective measures to cap gas and electricity prices.
“Thus, during an extremely challenging time, we have succeeded in providing tangible relief to workers, stabilizing incomes in the long term, and strengthening purchasing power. The collective bargaining outcome achieved today therefore also supports the German economy,” said Jörg Hofmann.
The collective bargaining agreement runs through September 30, 2024. The IG Metall Executive Board recommends adopting the pilot agreement’s terms in all bargaining regions.
Press Conference on the Collective Bargaining Agreement, November 18, 2022
with Jörg Hofmann (President of IG Metall) and Roman Zitzelsberger (Regional Director of IG Metall Baden-Württemberg), Stefan Wolf (President of Gesamtmetall) and Harald Marquardt (Vice President of Südwestmetall)
