How a collective bargaining agreement is reached in 6 steps

Collective bargaining agreements do not apply in all companies. An employee at a company without a collective bargaining agreement earns, on average, 11 percent less and has to work one hour longer per week to make up for it. Especially during collective bargaining rounds, the mood shifts in companies without such agreements. But even when comparing their own wages to those covered by collective bargaining agreements, it becomes clear to many: Without a collective bargaining agreement, employees suffer noticeable losses in income, and the difference shows that fairness in the workplace is only possible with a collective bargaining agreement. Once this realization takes hold, the first step has been taken .

Goodbye to the Non-Collective Bargaining Zone

A situation without a collective bargaining agreement does not have to be permanent. It is up to the employees themselves to change this unfair situation. As a second step, we therefore recommend contacting your local IG Metall chapter and scheduling a meeting. IG Metall will help you address the issue of a collective bargaining agreement at your workplace.

The third step: Become a union member and recruit more members. This is because IG Metall needs a “mandate” to negotiate collective bargaining agreements. It can only negotiate on behalf of its members. The old rule of thumb still applies: The more members, the stronger and more effective the union. The more employees advocate for a collective bargaining agreement and support IG Metall in this effort, the greater the chance of securing a good collective bargaining agreement.

Collective Bargaining Committee: Nothing Happens Without the Employees

Collective bargaining agreements are developed democratically. It is the employees at the company who decide which issues they want to address through a collective bargaining agreement. Once they have made that decision, the bargaining committee comes into play in the fourth step. It is elected by IG Metall members, determines the demands, and shapes the negotiation process. The members of the bargaining committee also form the negotiating committee, which negotiates the collective bargaining agreement with the employer.

Die Tarifkommission stellt Forderungen auf

Illustration: Stephanie Brittnacher

The collective bargaining committee sets demands and conducts negotiations. It is elected by the members at the workplace (for company-level collective bargaining agreements) or by the delegates’ assembly (for industry-wide collective bargaining agreements). Illustration: Stephanie Brittnacher

The Path to a Collective Bargaining Agreement

Employers do not always welcome collective bargaining agreements. Sometimes employers need to be convinced of the merits of the cause. That is why employees are well advised to prepare for resistance and, in the fifth step, to ask themselves: Are we strong enough yet? Workforces should be prepared, if necessary, to take action to build pressure and signal to management: We stand by our demands and want to secure good collective bargaining standards.

The sixth step involves collective bargaining. In the case of a company-level collective bargaining agreement, IG Metall and its bargaining committee negotiate directly with the employer; in the case of an industry-wide collective bargaining agreement, the negotiating partner is the employers’ association.

If an agreement is reached at the negotiating table and the bargaining committee has approved it, the collective bargaining agreement is finalized. If no agreement is reached, then the employees must step in and build pressure. Protests or warning strikes are often necessary to persuade employers to make a (better) offer. Once the employers finally put an offer on the table that leads to a negotiated settlement and which the bargaining committee can approve, the employees have secured their collective bargaining agreement.

However, even the best collective bargaining agreement is useless if it exists only on paper but is not implemented or put into practice at the workplace. That is why there needs to be a body within the company that ensures collective bargaining agreements are upheld. The works council fulfills this role based on the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG). Section 80 defines its general duties, such as “ensuring that the laws, regulations, (...), collective bargaining agreements, and company agreements in favor of employees are implemented.”

If you want to do good work and have a say in your workplace, you need a works council. If you don’t have one yet, then elect one. Your local IG Metall chapter will be happy to provide information, advice, and support.

Interview on Collective Bargaining Coverage Collective Bargaining Agreement: Don’t have one? Get one!

Collective bargaining agreements ensure better and more secure wages and working conditions. Don’t have one? Get one! Uwe Zabel from the Joint Development Project “Network Future” of the IG Metall Mitte district explains how to do it. He has helped negotiate more than 30 collective bargaining agreements.

This is only possible with a collective bargaining agreement The agreements that ensure fairness in the workplace

Where collective bargaining agreements apply, conditions are fairer. But when and for whom do they actually apply? What does being covered by a collective bargaining agreement look like in practice? We explain what types of collective bargaining agreements exist, what they regulate, and who is “covered by a collective bargaining agreement.”

Better with a collective bargaining agreement Here’s how we secured our collective bargaining agreement

Since early April, auto parts supplier Weitkowitz in Peine has been operating under the metalworkers’ collective bargaining agreement, with pay increases of up to 700 euros per month. Employees participated directly in the negotiations. They learned how to do this at an IG Metall seminar, together with other companies in the region that are now also working on their own collective bargaining agreements.

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Six Steps to a Collective Bargaining Agreement Fighting for a collective bargaining agreement—here’s how

Whether it’s income, working hours, or vacation time—a collective bargaining agreement makes things fairer at work. For anyone whose company isn’t currently covered by a collective bargaining agreement, we’ll show you in six steps how to change that.