Latest news with #ChristianeBenner
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Largest German union drops four-day week demands amid economic slump
Germany's largest trade union is dropping demands for a four-day week due to the country's economic struggles. "A four-day week with full wages is not currently on the union's list of demands," said Christiane Benner, chairwoman of IG Metall, on Tuesday. Benner told the Bild tabloid that the policy remains sensible. However, due to Germany's languishing economy, workers are currently facing a reduction in working hours due to employers' cost-cutting measures, she argued. Many German businesses oppose proposals to introduce a four-day week with full pay. In a March survey by the pro-business German Economic Institute, 94% of 823 companies survey said the move would hurt value creation. In addition, almost 70% said they believed that work would go undone and that Germany would be left behind compared to international competitors. IG Metall has emphasized that German companies must take responsibility to ensure their business models are viable in the future, to invest and to secure jobs. "We recognize the seriousness of the situation. But we also see that many companies lack strategies for the future and are not making the necessary investments," Benner said. Germany's economy - Europe's largest - has been in recession for two consecutive years, and experts expect the struggles to continue in 2025.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Thousands demonstrate for more investment in German industry
Thousands of industrial workers demonstrated in several German cities on Saturday, during a nationwide day of action organized by the union IG Metall. They were calling for measures to strengthen industry and secure jobs in the face of a worsening situation in the sector and growing concern about job security among the workforce. The union wants more investment from politicians and companies and targeted support for innovations and future technologies. "Without industry, Germany is a poor country, and we will not allow that to happen," said IG Metall leader Christiane Benner in a statement. The union wants more from employers to counter a climate of cut-backs, relocations and a lack of investment. "We can shape the future, we can create new technologies, we can create green industry. And now we want to do it!" said Benner. It was good that the likely new German government had shown it had understood, and was looking to foster innovation and defence, she said. "But no special fund has actually been set up yet, nothing is clear yet." All political forces must now take responsibility to ensure that this central project does not fail, she said. The demonstrations were accompanied by performances by well-known bands and artists, which may have played a role in boosting attendance. The events took place in Hanover, Stuttgart, Cologne, Frankfurt and Leipzig. IG Metall described it as the largest public action by the union in decades. The union says more than 77,000 people took part in the rallies under the slogan "My workplace. Our industrial country. Our future!" The numbers could not be verified. The nation's economy has struggled to recover from the pandemic and the consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine, with the country suffering from two consecutive years of recession. The downturn is also affecting industry.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Major German union demands political plan to save industrial jobs
Leaders from Germany's biggest industrial trade union, IG Metall, said on Monday that the country's next government urgently needs to formulate a plan to save factory jobs in the country and prevent de-industrialization. "We have no time to lose - in fact I believe we only have one chance left," Christiane Benner, first chairwoman of IG Metall, said in Frankfurt. "This country now needs a plan for the future, people need clear prospects." Thousands of jobs are on the line, for example at Germany's carmakers and auto industry suppliers as well as in the country's struggling steel industry. "For every job that is lost, a new one must be created. Everyone must now do their bit to keep value creation in the country and at the same time attract new jobs and industries," warned Benner. Germany's stagnant economy and a sharp downturn in key industries such as the auto and chemicals sectors has raised fears that the country's economic model is in terminal decline. Manufacturing remains a larger segment of the German economy than in most other wealthy countries, such as France or the United States, and industrial exports are seen as a pillar of the economy. Fierce global competition, rising labour expenses and high energy costs, however, have put that model under growing strain. With German elections approaching on February 23, IG Metall leaders on Monday demanded that parties focus on solutions - and called for a nationwide day of action after the vote in order to put pressure on potential coalition talks. The trade union is planning demonstrations on March 15 in cities across the country in order to "bring our demands to the streets during the coalition negotiations," said Benner.
Bloomberg
27-01-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Elon Musk's German Politicking Blasted by Union Targeting Tesla
Elon Musk's intervention in German politics is 'unacceptable,' the head of the country's most powerful labor union said, following the billionaire's vocal support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party. 'I only hope that this leads to people realize what kind of person he is,' Christiane Benner, head of IG Metall metalworkers union, said Monday at a press conference in Frankfurt. 'As citizens in a democracy, we have to stand up against this.'
