Round four in the metal bargaining round. So far, the negotiations have remained without agreement, instead there have been warning strikes. IG Metall is now expecting “movement at the negotiating table” from employers.
Böblingen (dpa/lsw) – Collective bargaining in the metal and electrical industry is entering its fourth round in Böblingen today. The first rounds ended without an agreement. IG Metall rejected the employer’s offer after the third negotiation. With the end of the peace obligation at the end of October, there were warning strikes in which, according to the union, more than 66,000 employees have taken part so far.
The employees expected the employers to “finally move around the negotiating table and a negotiable offer,” said IG Metall district manager Roman Zitzelsberger of the German Press Agency in Stuttgart. The general manager of the Südwestmetall employers’ association, Peer-Michael Dick, said that IG Metall had “shown a way of how we can use further state aid and relief to offset a large part of the current inflation”. Given the extreme uncertainties, companies would also need a long-term deal.
In the nationwide collective bargaining conflict, IG Metall is demanding eight percent more money for a term of twelve months. Around one million people are employed in the industry in Baden-Württemberg. Like the associations in other collective bargaining areas, Südwestmetall had offered a one-time payment of 3,000 euros and an unspecified increase in the salary scales for a term of 30 months.