PRESS STATEMENT Collective Bargaining Agreement in the Steel Industry

“We congratulate our colleagues on this hard-won and successful negotiation outcome. With this, IG Metall has secured the industry’s future and ensured healthier working conditions. Tens of thousands of workers applied pressure to achieve this, including by participating in full-day warning strikes for the first time.  

The new collective bargaining agreement sets a forward-looking course for the steel industry: The options for reduced working hours with wage compensation serve as a model. The shortened full-time workweek with wage compensation eases the burden on older shift workers. And the option of a collectively agreed-upon and financially supported 32-hour workweek makes employment more secure amid the industry’s transformation.”

Background: Late Friday night, IG Metall reached an agreement with employers in the steel industry in northwestern Germany on a new collective bargaining agreement: 

• Employees in the steel industry in northwestern Germany will receive a tax- and contribution-free inflation adjustment bonus of 1,500 euros in January 2024. An additional 1,500 euros will be paid out by November 2024. Starting in January 2025, employees’ wages will increase by 5.5 percent.  
• To help secure jobs, regular working hours can be collectively reduced from 35 to up to 32 hours. Employees will receive partial compensation for this reduction.
• Individually, employees can reduce their working hours to 33.6 hours (shortened full-time). Shift workers over the age of 60 will receive partial compensation for this.
• Details are available at igmetall.de and from IG Metall North Rhine-Westphalia 

Press photos and information about Nadine Boguslawski