background
Christiane Benner is the first woman to head IG Metall. There are many challenges ahead of the new boss – such as the climate-neutral transformation of the industry and the search for new members.
Christiane Benner is the new boss of the largest single trade union in the world. At the IG Metall union conference in Frankfurt today, more than 96 percent of the delegates spoke in favor of the 55-year-old. For the first time in its 132-year history, a woman is leading the metal workers’ union.
Benner’s path to the top is unusual for an industrial union: studies in sociology, a bachelor’s degree in the USA and a diploma from Frankfurt’s Goethe University. In 1997 she joined IG Metall full-time and quickly rose through the ranks. Most recently, she was second chairwoman for eight years.
“Take employees with you during change”
Christiane Benner answers with a shake of her head and a laugh whether the high expectations are an incentive for her as the first woman in this position, a burden or whether she is now even annoyed by this question: “No, none of that applies. I’m looking forward to it the tasks at hand and want to get started.”
There are many tasks ahead of IG Metall and its new boss. Benner appears confident and ready to fight. “We want to do everything we can to make the industry climate-neutral. The employees have to be included in this change,” says the chairwoman. “Whether this can be done jointly also depends on the employers. Unfortunately, there are also some with strategies that don’t go forward. There are certainly disputes.”
Support for the Bridge electricity price
The metal industry also suffers from the very high electricity prices in Germany compared to other countries. Christiane Benner is therefore in favor of a bridge electricity price. “It’s better to go over a bridge than into a dead end. We’re not just thinking about large, energy-intensive companies, but also small businesses such as foundries or blacksmiths,” says Benner.
“We want a bridge until there are competitive electricity prices through green energy. The Chancellery says that by 2030 we will have an electricity price of less than 10 cents per kilowatt hour. Until then, we need the bridge electricity price. Otherwise, entire sectors of industry will move away.” From Benner’s point of view, companies need planning security right now – a clear demand from the federal government. The union boss warns of deindustrialization in the long term.
Demand for a 32-hour week
In order to increase the effectiveness of IG Metall across the board, Christiane Benner also wants to anchor the union more strongly in small and medium-sized companies. “This is a sore point,” admits the new IG Metall chairwoman. “We definitely want to strengthen the establishment of works councils and collective bargaining there.”
The boss already has a plan to make IG Metall more interesting for new members. “With the demand for a 32-hour week with equal pay, we will move into the next round of collective bargaining. This will also make industrial work more attractive, especially for young people and women who still work part-time.”
Small businesses feel ignored
Köllemann GmbH is based deep in the Eifel, directly at the Nürburgring – a small company with 80 employees. It is a so-called “hidden champion” that exports all over the world. Köllemann manufactures highly specialized machines for producing plastic and aluminum products. Here too, managing director Guido Fiedler looks at the union conference and the new chairwoman – although there are no IG Metall representatives in the company.
“We are subject to the laws of the market. Our colleagues see what IG Metall has agreed to and then demand the same from us,” explains Fiedler. “There has been a company agreement for years that we as a company will take over the collective bargaining regulations. So in the end we are there.”
Fiedler has been working at Köllemann since 1980. Back then he started as a trainee. “My impression is that IG Metall has never really taken care of us little ones. Maybe something will change with Ms. Benner and there will be a new leadership style in the male-dominated IG Metall.” In the structurally weak region, unions have so far hardly been an issue at other smaller companies.
“We need qualified people from abroad”
The managing director has specific wishes so that trade unions can also become a discussion partner for him. IG Metall should work for more flexibility and less bureaucracy. “We have been trying to get an engineer from Turkey for nine months. There is already an apartment and a car available for him here. It goes back and forth with the employment agency, the IHK and the German embassy,” complains Fiedler.
“We need qualified people from abroad, and quickly. They also ensure our advancement in this country,” demands the entrepreneur. The unions also have a duty to finally act here. Fiedler does not see the 4-day week as a location advantage.
Fiedler also sees no long-term concepts for companies and employees when it comes to energy costs. “A bridge electricity price would be important for many companies. But that’s just window dressing. Someone has to pay in the end. We have a structural problem, and I don’t see any real solutions from either the employer representatives or the unions.” For the time being, Guido Fiedler sees no reason to join IG Metall.
More cooperation instead of confrontation
Hagen Lesch is also closely monitoring the IG Metall union conference. He heads the area of work and collective bargaining policy at the Institute of German Economics in Cologne. “IG Metall is strong in large companies – especially in the automotive industry. But it has problems in small and medium-sized companies that produce metal products.” This is also reflected in tariff policy. “IG Metall has its sights set on the big players. This can also be seen in the agreements, which are often complicated. This deters small and medium-sized companies from even entering into collective bargaining agreements.”
Medium-sized companies generally do not have legal departments that can then implement complex agreements, emphasizes Lesch. “Contracts need to be streamlined, simplified and offered as modules. This is the only way to get to the little ones,” he advises. As a negative example of too much bureaucracy, the expert cites the so-called T-Train of 2018, the additional pay under the collective agreement, in which employees can decide between pay and free time. This puts a strain on small businesses.
IG Metall is looking for new members
IG Metall is urgently dependent on new members. It is still the largest single union in the world – with around 2.15 million members. However, like the other unions, it has been losing members for years. Christiane Benner wants to reverse this trend. How realistic is that?
“Many older members will soon be retiring. Younger people generally have little inclination to join a union,” says Lesch. IG Metall is also experiencing demographic change. “What about immigrants? How can women be better recruited and promoted?” he asks.
More cooperation with companies?
For Lesch, the four-day week is not a promising option for the economy as a whole. “That sounds good for the employees at first. But we have a labor shortage. And then everything should be made more compact and productivity increased so that we can do the same work in fewer hours?”
In view of the major challenges facing the industry, Lesch sees increased cooperation between unions and companies as the need of the hour. “For the employees, job security is the most important thing. They also want to keep their well-paid jobs. The restructuring should therefore be carried out together. In my view, that would also be desirable for IG Metall.”