32-hour week and a bonus: this is what IG Metall has negotiated for the steel industry

What did the steel industry demand?
What did IG Metall negotiate?
Is the result satisfactory?
Will all employees in the German steel industry benefit?

Questions and answers - 32-hour week and a bonus: this is what IG Metall has negotiated for the steel industry

In the negotiations on wage increases and shorter working hours in the north-west German steel industry, the IG Metall trade union and employers agreed on a new collective wage agreement on Saturday night. For the first time, working time regulations have been agreed for the upcoming restructuring towards climate neutrality.

What is in the new collective agreement and who benefits from it? The most important questions and answers.

What did the steel industry demand?

The union had entered the negotiations with the demand for wage increases and a 32-hour week with full pay compensation, which the employers rejected as unfeasible. The first warning strikes in the north-west German steel industry took place at the beginning of December against the backdrop of faltering wage negotiations.

What has IG Metall negotiated?

The new collective agreement provides for an inflation compensation bonus totaling 3,000 euros in two stages as well as a 5.5 percent increase in wages and salaries from January 1, 2025, as announced by IG Metall in Düsseldorf. In addition, the regular working hours are to be collectively reduced from 35 to up to 32 hours in order to secure employment, for which employees will receive partial wage compensation. The agreement also provides for the possibility of reducing individual working hours to 33.6 hours.

The agreement also provides for regulations for companies or parts of companies in which "pressure on employment" arises as a result of the transformation. In this case, working hours can be reduced by three hours to 32 hours, based on the standard working time of 35 hours applicable in the industry. IG Metall was unable to push through its demand for full wage compensation, but was able to achieve payment of 33 hours. Only those aged 60 and over who work shifts are to be paid 34.1 hours from 2025. This age limit is to be lowered by one year in each of the following two years. The parties to the collective agreement then want to evaluate the regulation in 2027.

The collective agreement also provides for regulations in the event of additional requirements, for example due to the temporary parallel operation of old and new technologies. Working hours can then be increased by up to three hours. The existing regulation on overtime pay will then apply.

The compensatory bonus will be paid in stages: 1500 euros will be paid in January, followed by 150 euros in each of the months February to November. Trainees will receive a total of 1800 euros, also staggered. Following the increase in salaries from January 2025, the collective wage agreement will run until September 30, 2025.

Is the result satisfactory?

IG Metall chief negotiator Knut Giesler expressed his satisfaction with the result. One of the most important goals had been achieved. "We are giving employees security during the transformation. If there is pressure on employment, the reduction in working hours with partial pay compensation means that the remaining work can be spread across several shoulders." A start has been made on the individual desire to reduce working hours.

The new collective agreement is "forward-looking for the steel industry", explained IG Metall board member Nadine Boguslawski. "The options for reducing working hours with pay compensation are a role model," she emphasized. The shorter full-time working hours with pay compensation relieves the burden on older employees, while the option of a financed 32-hour week "makes employment more secure in an industry in transition".

The employers also rated the regulations as "very positive". Reiner Blaschek, Chairman of the German Steel Employers' Association, emphasized that, together with IG Metall, it had been possible to create a tailor-made regulation on working hours and job security during the ecological transformation. The regulation on individual working hours gives employees more flexibility. "It was important to us that, as a rule, no compensation is paid for this."

However, there is scepticism about the pay: "In view of the rapidly deteriorating framework conditions for the German steel industry, the agreed pay increase is stretching companies to the limit," said Blaschek. Giesler, who is also District Manager of IG Metall North Rhine-Westphalia, on the other hand, spoke of a "sustainable increase in income".

Will all employees in the German steel industry benefit?

No. IG Metall North Rhine-Westphalia is conducting collective bargaining for the steel and iron industry in the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen and Lower Saxony. Around 68,000 people are employed there. Separate negotiations are being held for the steel industry in eastern Germany and employees in Saarland. The peace obligation ends there at the end of February. In addition to Saarland, the collective bargaining area also includes two plants in Wetzlar (Hesse) and Kehl (Baden-Württemberg).

Around 68,000 people are employed in the steel and iron industry in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen and Lower Saxony. In the eastern German steel industry, which employs around 8,000 people, the fifth round of negotiations is scheduled for December 18.