Union demands five percent more wages for the metal and electrical industries
AI-generated summary
The peace obligation in the metal and electrical industries ends on October 31st. From November 1st, industrial action such as warning strikes are permitted.
Before the start of collective bargaining in the metal and electrical industries, the IG Metall union emphasized its determination. The willingness to fight is significantly higher than in previous years, said the district manager of IG Metall North Rhine-Westphalia, Knut Giesler, in Düsseldorf. Giesler is the negotiator for the North Rhine-Westphalia tariff district.
“We have also significantly shortened our deadlines for escalation scenarios within IG Metall.” In North Rhine-Westphalia, everything is currently being “well prepared” for all escalation steps, Giesler continued. Around 650,000 people work in the industry there. According to Giesler, almost 60 percent of the companies are bound by collective agreements, but “significantly more” than 60 percent of the employees are.
Collective bargaining round 2026: Warning strikes possible from November 1st
Collective bargaining for the 3.7 million employees nationwide in Germany's largest industrial sector begins this Wednesday with negotiations in the districts of North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg. The peace obligation ends at the end of October 31st. From then on, warning strikes are possible.
IG Metall is entering the negotiations with a demand for five percent more money. The collective agreement should have a term of 12 months. The union also wants to enforce profit sharing for employees in “boom companies” and negotiate on securing jobs and locations. Giesler describes the tariff demand of five percent as “moderate”.
According to Arndt G. Kirchhoff, President of the North Rhine-Westphalia Metal Employers, the employers consider the demand to be “clearly too high and completely unrealistic”. The Association of the Metal and Electrical Industry of North Rhine-Westphalia announced after the demands were announced that even an approximate implementation of the demand would further exacerbate the recently accelerated staff cuts.
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Start of warning strikes from November 1st
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