Marathon negotiations to secure a landmark deal in Germany for agency metalworkers finally ended this morning (22 May) in Frankfurt as the powerful IG Metall union hailed the ground-breaking agreement.
News of the agency workers’ accord that lasts until 2017 caps a stunning week for IG Metall, which pulled off a major 4.3% pay increase after 800,000 of its members, a significant number of whom work in the auto industry, staged a series of so-called warning strikes in support of its demands.
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German agency metalworkers will now receive between half and two thirds of the estimated 40%-50% difference between their salaries and those of full-time employees.
“Negotiations lasted until 06:00 this morning,” an IG Metall spokesman told just-auto from Frankfurt where the all-night talks ended. [It is initially] Baden-Wurtenburg but the other regions will have this.
“That [agency deal] was one of the most difficult topics to get a compromise – it is not only a question of material things – it is an ideological question. Who decides if an employer can use agency workers and what conditions?”
The agency breakthrough comes in addition to this week’s 13-month, 4.3% pay rise and although IG Metall had “demanded” a 6.5% hike, the union concedes it is “quite happy” with securing the lion’s share of its request.
“We believe the industry can afford it – most of the representatives of the employers association agreed to this point,” said the IG Metall spokesman.
“We had around 800,000 members on strike – that is one of the major points that made this agreement possible. The employers are very nervous about the question of regular strikes because the economic situation is good – they fear a regular strike.”
Almost alone among European economies, Germany is powering ahead with exports, mainly outside the Continent, but IG Metall cautions against unions looking inward.
“We still know Germany is not an isolated island,” he said. “The metal industry is one [of the] most dependent industries on exports.”
