Press Release No. 59/2015 Wolfgang Lemb: “IG Metall Strengthens International Union Work”

Frankfurt am Main – Wolfgang Lemb, executive board member of IG Metall, has called for a reversal of European policy and an end to attacks on workers’ interests. “We want a change of course in Europe. We are fighting to ensure that worker participation is respected, collective bargaining agreements are possible, and fair labor and social conditions are guaranteed,” Lemb said Monday at the union convention in Frankfurt. IG Metall has significantly expanded its engagement in European policy and opened a liaison office in Brussels in mid-2014. This allows IG Metall to maintain direct contact with members of the European Parliament, committee chairs, and EU commissioners in order to directly advocate its positions in Brussels. This applies, among other things, to the planned reform of the emissions trading system for the steel industry, as well as to the planned regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from new cars after 2020 and the guidelines for future European industrial policy.

To build union structures beyond Germany’s borders, IG Metall will launch two pilot projects with partner unions in the U.S. and Hungary. “We are developing joint outreach strategies for selected locations of German companies and aim to improve local income and working conditions through collective bargaining agreements,” Lemb announced.

With regard to the investment backlog in Germany, Lemb clarified which sources of financing should be chosen for investments. Contrary to the federal government’s plans, IG Metall does not consider the proposed mobilization of private capital to be the best solution. “Public investments must be financed primarily from tax revenues; the public sector must make full use of its financial leeway, and public investments must be exempted from the debt brake,” Lemb demanded. High incomes and large fortunes must make an appropriate contribution to financing social, digital, and transportation infrastructure.

Reflecting on German reunification, which took place 25 years ago, Lemb criticized the still “significant income gap between East and West.” The number of companies bound by collective bargaining agreements in the East is significantly lower than in the West. IG Metall will continue to advocate for equal working and living conditions, Lemb said.

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Further information can be found at: /vorstand/en/presse and https://igm-gewerkschaftstag-2015.de/