Better pay and 
new rights


Germany’s biggest union, IG Metall, has reached a settlement for metalworkers which provides for an above-inflation pay increase and the right for individual workers to cut their working time from the standard 35 hours a week to 28 for a period of two years. 


The pay increase of 4.3% over 27 months is well above inflation (1.6% in January), and there are significant additional pay elements. But the right of workers in Germany’s largest bargaining group — with 3.9 million workers — to take their own decisions on working time is the most notable breakthrough. 


As Jörg Hofmann, head of IG Metall, said in an interview following the deal, “flexibility is no longer the privilege of the employer”. He described the agreement as “pointing towards the future”. (For full details of the settlement see the Labour Research’s sister magazine Workplace Report, February 2018, page 8.)