Status: 05.04.2023 08:27
IG Metall is preparing for the next negotiations for the steel industry. Some of the applicable tariffs will expire this year. The union insists as the first demand for a four-day week in the industry.
It will still be a few months before new tariffs are negotiated in the north-west German steel industry. But the IG Metall trade union is already making initial demands – and they envisage the reduction of weekly working hours to four days.
In an interview with the “Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung”, Knut Giesler, negotiator and chairman of IG Metall in North Rhine-Westphalia, emphasized that the four-day week should go hand in hand with full wage compensation for employees in the industry. “We want to achieve real relief for the employees without them earning less as a result,” says Giesler.
From 35 to 32 hours
Specifically, the working week should be reduced from 35 to 32 hours. From this, Giesler expects “great progress for the quality of life and health” of employees in the steel industry. In addition, this could make the industry more attractive for young people. At the same time, the union chairman hopes to be able to prevent future job losses with the help of the four-day week.
At the same time, Giesler admitted that the switch to a four-day week would take time. Such a change is more difficult to implement, especially in companies whose employees work in three shifts. If the employers meet the demands of IG Metall, Giesler expects “longer creep-in times” and the changeover could sometimes take several years.
Tariffs expire in November
The existing wage tariffs in both the north-west German and the east German steel industry will expire on November 30 of this year; Saarland will follow at the end of February 2024.
As a rule, successful negotiations result in a pilot agreement for the north-west German steel industry – i.e. for North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Hesse and Bremen – which is then implemented in the other federal states.