Almost 40 years after the protracted strike action that gradually led to the introduction in 1995 of the 35-hour working week in the German metal industry, the IG Metall trade union has announced its intention to place the transition to a four-day working week at the centre of collective bargaining negotiations set to be held in November 2023 in Western Germany’s main steel regions (North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Hesse and Bremen). The news was announced by Knut Giesler, IG Metall presid
…
As a Berlin correspondent for the French and Swiss press since the late 1990s, I cover a wide range of economic, political and social issues, with a particular focus on the German business and labour market. My areas of interest include co-determination, digitalisation, demographics and ESG/DEI policies.