Today, IG Metall and employers are meeting in Düsseldorf to try to reach a solution in the collective bargaining negotiations for the Northwest Iron and Steel Industry. During the last round of negotiations in mid-March, employers offered a one-time COVID-19 bonus of 350 euros to be paid on June 30, 2021, as well as another one-time payment of 350 euros in February 2022. This payment is also to be convertible into time off to help secure jobs. However, the employers are not offering a permanent increase in wages. The agreement is to run for 17 months.
Get the latest updates on your smartphone via push notifications with our IG Metall app
“What the steel employers offered last week was too little, and the term was too long,” explains Knut Giesler, district director of IG Metall NRW and chief negotiator. At today’s negotiations, he says, a pay increase must be offered that will be permanently incorporated into the pay structure. “We also need this to be able to finance measures to secure jobs where necessary. The steel industry, in particular, faces major challenges that will not be resolved by next year.”
Negotiations in Eastern Germany on Tuesday
Next Tuesday, IG Metall will then hold negotiations in the East German steel industry. There, employers presented the same offer last week. That’s not enough for the workers on the shop floor. The order book is full, and there’s barely enough time to keep up with the workload. The workers expect this to be reflected financially—not just as a one-time payment, but as a permanent adjustment to the pay scale.
“It’s time for employers to make a move,” demands Birgit Dietze, regional director of IG Metall Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony. Dietze emphasized that order books at many steel companies are full and that steel prices have reached record levels. “For the current calendar year—despite all the differences within the industry—the outlook is very positive. If we reach an agreement with too long a term, the steel companies will be back to full production and our colleagues will come away empty-handed. That’s not acceptable.”
(Photo: IG Metall)
IG Metall is demanding a 4 percent increase, which can be used both to boost wages and apprenticeship stipends and to fund measures to secure jobs.
Still, steel employers have offered to extend the collective bargaining agreements on job security, partial retirement, and contract work, and to fulfill a commitment to engage in talks regarding dual-track students—as demanded by IG Metall. They also proposed initiating talks on a collective bargaining agreement for transformation.
Separate negotiations are still underway in the Saarland steel industry, where the collective bargaining agreements do not expire until the end of May.
