Newshot Pay Talks Deadlocked in Auto and Other Industries as Germany's IG Metall Union Announces 24-Hour Strike
IT之家 November 12 news, according to Reuters, IG Metall, one of Germany's most powerful industrial unions, announced today that it will hold a 24-hour strike to further pressure employers. The labor dispute involves about 3.7 million employees and covers companies including Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Tata Steel.
IG Metall has not yet immediately announced specific strike dates. The union said the action is a response to employers' obstruction of the negotiations. The two sides have already held three rounds of talks but have consistently failed to make substantive progress.
As Germany's largest union organization, IG Metall is demanding a 5% pay raise for employees, along with measures to safeguard jobs and production sites, and is calling for profit-sharing mechanisms in industries with sound business performance so that employees can also share in the companies' operating results.
IT之家 notes that the proposal put forward by employers is markedly lower than the union's demands: a one-time bonus equivalent to 1% of wages to be paid to employees in July 2027, and a 1.3% wage increase from July 2028. In addition, for companies in poor financial condition, employers want to retain the right not to pay this one-time bonus.
IG Metall has already rejected this proposal, arguing that, taking inflation and other factors into account, the employers' terms would in effect lead to a decline in employees' real income.
On Wednesday, employer associations in several German regions also voiced opposition to the 24-hour strike plans put forward by IG Metall's local branches, saying that prolonged strikes would only cause further losses to an industrial sector already in crisis.
It is worth noting that last week IG Metall proposed a temporary arrangement: allowing employees at companies under operational pressure to make concessions to a certain extent, but only on the precondition that companies make binding commitments on future investment and jobs.
The labor dispute highlights the dual pressure facing German industrial companies: on one hand, employees want pay raises to offset rising living costs and to safeguard employment; on the other hand, traditional industrial sectors such as autos and steel are facing operational difficulties, and companies want to control costs. The two sides have still not reached agreement on wage adjustments and employment safeguards.