Roman Zitzelsberger, IG Metall’s chief in Baden-Württemberg, has earmarked job security as one of the trade union’s priorities ahead of collective negotiations set to kick off by 17 March in the metals and electrical engineering sectors. The push comes after a report, published on 13 January by a working group made up of experts as well as representatives of companies and trade unions, warned that at least 410,000 jobs could be lost in Germany by 2030 as part of the transition to electromobility. For Zitzelsberger, the issue of pay rises will be up for discussion but will not be a priority. The collective agreement that is currently in force in the metals sector is set to expire on 31 March 2020. Between now and then, no strike action is possible due to the clause on social peace.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs under threat. The figures contained in the the provisional report published on January 13 by one of the six working groups of the so-called ‘national future mobility platform’ (Nationale Plattform Zukunft der Mobilität – NPM), which has been tasked by the German government with assessing the impact of structural change in employment in the automotive sector and is chaired by IG Metall president Jörg Hofmann, are striking: more than 410,000 jobs could be lost by 2030 across Germany amid the transition to electromobility, including 88,000 in the production of engines and transmissions alone.
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