Ahead of the third round of negotiations in the metal and electrical industry, Arndt Kirchhoff, President of Westmetall, issued a warning to IG Metall regarding further escalation in the collective bargaining dispute.
Kirchhoff told “Die Welt” that the next level of escalation would involve 24-hour strikes, which would impact companies even more severely. He warned beforehand that he could only caution against a potential unlimited strike following a referendum. He stressed that such a strike would certainly lead to the loss of more jobs. He pointed out that the industry is currently losing jobs “at a staggering rate”-approximately 10,000 per month or 120,000 annually. Therefore, he argued, businesses needed relief, not added burdens.
Kirchhoff demanded a “breather” regarding wage costs during the collective bargaining process. He noted that many companies cannot take on additional orders at German locations because production costs there are too high. The Westmetall President asserted the necessity of reducing the high cost per unit of labor. For many enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, labor costs account for between 30 and 50 percent of operations, making a demand for a five percent wage increase unmanageable.
Furthermore, Kirchhoff called for greater flexibility for economically struggling companies, allowing them to deviate from the standard wage increases. He proposed that a compromise should involve automatic differentiation across the sector. If a company is financially weak, it should have the option to waive or postpone a negotiated wage increase.
Looking toward the negotiations scheduled for Monday, Kirchhoff adopted a cautious stance. He is not anticipating a deal at this time, but he suggested that the rounds might conclude shortly after the meeting. However, he stipulated that for this to happen, the union must approach a middle ground.
