Overview
- The IG Metall federal board approved the use of 24‑hour warnstreiks on Thursday, allowing districts to put the measure to votes in selected workplaces.
- In each targeted firm members must back a 24‑hour action by a majority of eligible union members for a stoppage to proceed, and participants can claim strike pay from the union fund.
- The union demands a 5 percent wage increase plus social and job‑security measures while employers have offered a one‑off payment of about 1 percent in 2027 and a permanent 1.3 percent rise in 2028.
- IG Metall mobilized more than 400,000 workers in recent short warning strikes, and the new day‑long stage could affect a three‑digit number of firms and disrupt production in key regions such as Baden‑Württemberg and North Rhine‑Westphalia.
- Employer associations warned that ganztägige strikes would cause heavy economic damage in weaker sub‑sectors like auto suppliers, and the tactic revives a tool first used in 2018 that could force tougher bargaining or further escalation depending on ballot results.