By Patrick König, correspondent
After warning strikes and rallies in several German cities, the union, and management met on Monday, 11 November, for negotiations. After 18 hours of negotiations, they signed an agreement in the Costa branch, which covers the northern part of Germany. This agreement was taken as a reference point for extending to the rest of the country.
We metalworkers must analyse and draw our conclusions, to see what was won or lost, and how we will continue our struggle. To do this, let’s analyse it.
What have they signed?
First, we have to look at is what we asked for, and what has been achieved. The IG Metall (metalworkers’ union) demanded a 7% wage increase and an agreement to last one year; an increase for the apprentices 170 euros (in Germany apprentices receive a wage, which is regulated by the industry agreement, for the duration of their training). In the end, they signed a total increase of 5.1% (2% from April 2025 and 3.1% from April 2026) and 140 euros for the apprentices.
While we cannot say this is an absolute disaster, this agreement falls short of the staff expected what. Especially because we suffered a wage loss in the 2023/2024 agreement. Productivity increases, lack of worker protection for temporary contracts, and unaddressed layoffs compound this.
They signed a two-year agreement when we required one year. While seemingly insignificant, this issue is crucial considering future inflation and instability. With this signature we are tied to two years of ‘social peace’ and if, for example, next year inflation is higher than 2%, we cannot take any measures to defend ourselves and we will again have another loss of purchasing power. So, if we look at the numbers, we can say that this is not a great triumph at all, quite the contrary.
We also need a political balance sheet
After a struggle, be it trade unionist or political, it is necessary to analyse not only the economical result but also its political reasons. The trade union leadership tries to convince us they have signed a substantial agreement. That is their balance sheet. Now, they have finished their work until 2 years from now when this agreement expires. They go back to their comfortable offices, far away from productivity increases, pressures to avoid sick leave or for family problems, and from dismissal threats. We face a distinct reality. We must be very clear about what has been achieved and elaborate a quantitative balance sheet. But above all, what we have to do, and even more important than the quantitative balance sheet, is a qualitative balance sheet. We have to analyse what we are left with after this struggle to face the new challenges ahead of us with clarity. We have to conclude what we have done to advance in our degree of organisation and class consciousness.
Some questions we should ask ourselves
–Could we have achieved a better agreement? We think so. But for that we should have been more involved in the negotiations, holding assemblies with a mandate, collecting signatures, demanding that no agreement be signed without prior consultation with the workers, joining in demonstrations more massively, etc.
-Could the agreement be delayed and put pressure on a new 24-hour strike?
We also think so. It was the bosses who were in a hurry to sign as soon as possible. The bosses don’t want instability, they don’t want the workers to get into the rhythm of mobilisation, and they don’t want us to question who is in charge. When we go on strike, we lose a few hours or a day’s pay, but the bosses lose millions. We think the union leadership shouldn’t have rushed to sign. We should have intensified the pressure measures.
–What would have happened if IG Metall had put its strike fund behind the struggle?
IG Metall, according to its own annual balance sheet figures, has more than 1 billion euros in strike funds. This is more than enough to support and strengthen a strong struggle to get what we demand.
– So why is IG Metall signing in haste and without consulting the workers?
IG Metall signs in haste because, like the bosses, they do not want to lose control of the strike. They aim to guarantee ‘social peace’. They don’t want a genuine class struggle. If we take the struggle into our own hands, we not only question the bosses’ domination but also their privileges as a trade union bureaucracy.
The DGB’s connection to the SPD and German capital means it serves their interests. The recent collapse of the coalition government has worsened the country’s economic and political instability. So IG Metall, faithful to its master, signed a downward agreement to throw a lifeline to the government and the employers and to bring everything into the electoral debate. Because of the political crisis, the general elections are brought forward to February 2025.
We claim the unions for the workers
Faced with disillusionment, many comrades will probably consider disaffiliating from the union, and those who are not yet members will see yet another reason not to do so. This situation calls into question the role of the unions. The unions’ bending over backwards, the air they give to bosses and government when they can be beaten, etc… make workers wonder whether the unions are good for anything.
Trade unions are crucial for protecting workers’ rights, fighting cuts, challenging governments, and even resisting dictatorships. Decades of struggle in all countries prove this. We shouldn’t equal union leadership with the union itself as an organ of organisation and workers’ representation. It is not the unions, but the union leaders, who have sold out. One of our tasks is to remove these sold-out leaders and put in new leaders who will represent us in the unions. The first thing we must do is to join if we are not already members and organise at the base to impose fighting reps in leadership positions. We must fight to control the unions, and end that a handful of bureaucrats control the majority.
The agreement was signed but the struggle continues…
While we can clearly say that we have not won a victory, we can also say that it is more than clear that we are not happy with what is happening, that we are ready to fight and that we are not defeated by any stretch of the imagination. We have had a first round in which the contenders, employers, and workers, have been ‘measuring’ each other.
Our major problems have not been solved (productivity increase, layoffs, factory closures, percentage increase of temporary workers, etc.). That’s why we can’t just sit back and wait to see what happens in 2 years. We have to make our disagreement with the signed agreement known to the union and its representatives in the factories. We have to demand that the delegates and Internal Commissions hold decisive assemblies to discuss measures to deal with these problems. When there are elections for delegates, we have to present honest comrades who are ready to fight, in the elections to the Works Councils, we have to present alternative anti-bureaucratic and anti-employer candidacies, etc.
Besides getting involved in solving concrete problems in the workplace, we will also have to get involved in the political problems of the country. The general elections have already been announced for 23 February 2025, and we cannot be mere spectators, on the contrary. We have to take part in the absence of an electoral alternative to defend our interests, so that in the next elections we have an obvious alternative to vote for.
Let us build together class and militant trade unions and political organisations
In this article, we have analysed how the negotiation of the metalworkers’ agreement in Germany took place.
This is an agreement, a struggle in a country. You, who are reading this article, probably have a different agreement, are a student or unemployed, or even live thousands of kilometres away from Germany. But if we look at who the actors were (government, employers, union leaders, workers, etc.), the problems (no democracy to decide, signing of an agreement without consultation and in disagreement with the majority, major unresolved situations, such as dismissals, labour flexibility, loss of purchasing power, absolute instability for hired workers, etc., etc., etc., etc.), we are facing the same problems that you are facing every day. Because capitalism is a world system and we workers endure the same difficulties. And just as we must take stock, debate or share experiences of struggle at the factory, sector, local, or national level, we must also do the same at the international level.
So, even if you live in Argentina, Canada, Germany, South Africa, or Japan, or if you are a student, worker or unemployed, if you agree with what you have read, we propose that you contact us so that we can organise ourselves to fight against the cuts and to create trade unions and political organisations that serve the interests of workers and the people.
