In an interview with Planet Labor, Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall (and of the international federation, IndustriALL Global Union) explained how the union is addressing employment problems and the disruptive effects on employment stemming from digitalization and decarbonization of the economy, as well as the new role for collective bargaining.
- Agile businesses, flexible employment, mini-jobs, interim employment etc. How is your trade union reacting to these developments?
Jörg Hofmann. I will give a balanced answer. Firstly, financial markets are driving businesses towards restructuring and streamlining, which is creating a great deal of insecurity. With this in mind, my answer is; by way of traditional trade union endeavors including establishing social standards within corporates, and extending and promoting co-determination, etc. In addition, today’s management culture and how companies are being organized is in flux, and as a result we evidently need to strengthen workers’ rights, because they too must be able to benefit from this newfound flexibility.
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