Germany’s largest trade union “IG Metall” has called for the introduction of a four-day work week, which it is preparing to argue for in the upcoming negotiations on collective agreements.
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“IG Metall” represents approximately 2.17 million workers in the metal industry and is advocating a reduction of the working week from 35 to 32 hours per week, while maintaining the current pay.
“We need to socially follow the changes in the steel industry,” said Knut Giesler, head of the North Rhine-Westphalia division of “IG Metall”, in a conversation with the media group WAZ.
He added that in this way, workers will not have to fear for their jobs due to the decrease in the amount of work.
The reduction of working hours is considered by the German steel industry as one of the possibilities to avoid the layoffs expected in the transition to the so-called green economy.
Some companies, such as Thyssenkrupp, already allow employees to choose between 33 or 35 hours per week.
Meanwhile, other European countries have already gone further in this direction.
For example, Belgium passed a law last November that allows workers to choose to work four or five days a week. On the other hand, in Great Britain, a six-month long pilot project was successfully concluded, in which the impact of shortening working hours on the productivity of companies was tested.
