IG Metall
Professional services
UnclaimedGermany's largest trade union and one of Europe's largest industrial unions.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
IG Metall, formally Industriegewerkschaft Metall, is Germany's dominant industrial trade union and the country's largest individual union. It organizes employees across a broad group of manufacturing and technology-related industries, including automobile production, steel, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace, information systems, textiles, clothing, wood, plastics, and related industrial services. Its traditional base is the skilled blue-collar workforce of the metalworking sector, but its organizing scope also includes engineers, technical specialists, office employees, and other white-collar workers. The union was established in 1949, although its name and organizational traditions draw on German metalworkers' and industrial labor movements that developed during the late nineteenth century. Over time, IG Metall expanded beyond a narrowly defined metal and mining constituency. The integration of the Textile and Clothing Union on April 1, 1998, and the merger with the Wood and Plastics Union on January 1, 2000, broadened its industrial reach and reinforced its position as a cross-sector manufacturing organization. IG Metall operates through seven regional districts and numerous local administrative offices. Its bargaining influence is especially strong in Baden-Württemberg, a major center for automobile and industrial manufacturing and home to companies such as Daimler and Bosch. Agreements reached in that region have often served as reference points for collective bargaining elsewhere in Germany. The union also represents employees at major manufacturers and industrial groups including BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, Audi, Siemens, ThyssenKrupp, Airbus, Salzgitter, ArcelorMittal, Bosch, and ZF, as well as workers at smaller engineering, repair, and mechanical-construction companies. The organization has played a central role in securing improvements in German industrial employment conditions. These have included paid sick leave, the five-day working week, longer paid holidays, reductions in standard weekly hours, and the eventual introduction of a 35-hour week in parts of the metal industry. Its bargaining strategy combines collective negotiations, works-council representation, political advocacy, membership recruitment, and, when negotiations fail, warning strikes or larger industrial action. German industrial relations generally emphasize negotiated compromise, but IG Metall has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to mobilize large numbers of workers. Its most influential campaigns have concerned working time, wages, employment security, and the social consequences of industrial restructuring. The union's 1984 action in Baden-Württemberg and Hesse helped establish a path toward the 35-hour week. In 1995, a large Bavarian strike supported working-time reductions, while the 2002 wage campaign sought a substantial pay increase through coordinated one-day stoppages. In 2018, industrial action contributed to an agreement allowing eligible employees to reduce their working week temporarily to 28 hours for childcare or family-care responsibilities, with some workers receiving compensation or support for staffing arrangements. IG Metall has also become an important participant in debates about the transformation of the automobile industry, digitalization, electrification, skilled-labor shortages, and the future of manufacturing employment. During the COVID-19 crisis it proposed a negotiated move toward a four-day week as one possible method of protecting jobs during economic disruption and structural change. In 2024 it conducted warning strikes in the electrical and metal industries during difficult wage negotiations and later reached a major agreement with Volkswagen involving substantial capacity reductions and job cuts after prolonged bargaining and industrial action. The union is affiliated with the German Trade Union Confederation and participates in European and global labor networks, including IndustriALL Global Union. It has also developed international cooperation with unions representing employees at German manufacturers operating abroad. Its monthly publication, metallzeitung, has been published since 1949 and serves as a major communication channel for members. Membership declined sharply during parts of the 1990s but later recovered, aided by recruitment among women, younger workers, students, and white-collar employees. IG Metall remains a central institution in German collective bargaining and a major trend-setter for industrial labor standards.
History
IG Metall was founded in 1949 in the postwar reorganization of German trade unionism. Its institutional identity rests on older metalworkers' organizations whose roots reach back to the industrial labor movement of imperial Germany in the 1890s. The postwar union developed as a broad industrial organization rather than a narrow craft association, representing employees in metal production, mining-related activities, engineering, machinery, automobiles, steel, electrical manufacturing, and other industrial workplaces. During the economic expansion of the 1950s and 1960s, IG Metall became one of the principal forces shaping employment standards in West Germany. It helped secure paid sick leave, the five-day working week, longer paid holidays, and reductions in standard working time. These achievements established the union as a major actor in Germany's system of collective bargaining and workplace co-determination. The organization negotiated with employer associations while retaining the capacity to use strikes when bargaining failed. The campaign for a 35-hour week became one of the defining episodes of the union's modern history. A seven-week strike in Baden-Württemberg and Hesse in 1984 resulted in a reduction of weekly hours from 37 to 35 in the affected metalworking agreements, although the broader objective was implemented unevenly and over time. In 1995, a major strike in Bavaria again addressed working time, with as many as 11,000 workers reported to have remained off the job for two weeks. The 35-hour standard was subsequently established in the metal industry in 1995, though differences between regions and sectors persisted. IG Metall also faced setbacks. In 2003 it abandoned an effort to extend shorter working hours to factories in eastern Germany after the campaign lost support and its negotiating approach was widely criticized. This episode illustrated the difficulty of applying western German industrial standards across regions with different economic conditions and labor-market histories. Nevertheless, the union retained significant bargaining influence. Its 2002 campaign for a 6.5 percent wage increase used coordinated one-day strikes and ended with an agreement for an increase of approximately 4 percent. The organization expanded its membership domain through mergers. The Textile and Clothing Union joined IG Metall in 1998, and the Wood and Plastics Union followed in 2000. These combinations brought additional workers into the union's structure and broadened its identity beyond traditional metalworking. At the same time, the decline of heavy industry, employment restructuring, and wider changes in German union membership produced substantial membership losses, including a reported loss of approximately 250,000 members in 1993. In the 2010s, IG Metall pursued renewed recruitment among women, younger workers, students, engineers, and other white-collar employees. The union reported membership growth during this period, including a significant increase in 2015, against a generally difficult national environment for organized labor. It also achieved prominent wage agreements, including a 2016 two-stage increase totaling 4.8 percent over 21 months for around 3.8 million metalworking employees. The 2018 bargaining round combined pay demands with greater individual control over working time. Industrial action involving more than 900,000 participants supported an agreement allowing qualifying employees to reduce their working week to 28 hours for up to two years, particularly for childcare or care of relatives. This became an important example of IG Metall linking traditional wage bargaining with work-life balance and demographic change. In the twenty-first century, the union has increasingly addressed electrification, automation, digitalization, international supply chains, and the transition of the automobile industry. During the pandemic it proposed a four-day week as a negotiated job-protection measure. In 2024 it used warning strikes during metal and electrical-sector wage talks, and it later entered an unusually extensive restructuring negotiation with Volkswagen. The Volkswagen agreement included major job reductions and capacity cuts, reflecting the difficult balance between protecting employment, maintaining industrial competitiveness, and managing structural change. IG Metall is organized into seven regional districts: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony, Frankfurt, Coast, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, and North Rhine-Westphalia. These districts are divided into local administrative offices. The union is affiliated with the German Trade Union Confederation and participates in European and global industrial-union organizations. Its magazine, metallzeitung, has appeared since 1949 and remains a major member-information platform. Through bargaining, workplace representation, public campaigns, and international cooperation, IG Metall continues to exert influence well beyond its formal membership base.
- 2024
Warning strikes in metal and electrical industries
[1]Workers conduct warning strikes during a wage dispute involving a union demand for 7 percent and an employer offer of 3.6 percent over 27 months.
- 2024
Volkswagen restructuring agreement
[1]After prolonged negotiations and two strikes, IG Metall agrees with Volkswagen on more than 35,000 job cuts and substantial capacity reductions.
- 2020
Four-day-week proposal during COVID-19
[1]IG Metall proposes shorter working weeks as a means of protecting industrial employment during the pandemic and automotive restructuring.
- 2018
Temporary 28-hour week option
[1]A major bargaining settlement introduces a temporary shorter working week for qualifying employees with childcare or family-care responsibilities.
- 2016
Metalworking pay agreement
[1]A two-stage pay increase totaling 4.8 percent over 21 months is agreed for approximately 3.8 million workers.
- 2015
Membership recovery and international partnership
[1]IG Metall reports renewed membership growth and announces deeper cooperation with the United Auto Workers.
- 2002
Coordinated wage campaign
[1]One-day strikes support a 6.5 percent wage demand; the dispute ends with an increase of approximately 4 percent.
- 2000
Wood and Plastics Union joins
[1]The Wood and Plastics Union merges into IG Metall, adding further non-metal manufacturing constituencies.
- 1998
Textile and Clothing Union joins
[1]The Textile and Clothing Union becomes part of IG Metall, expanding its membership and industrial scope.
- 1995
35-hour week established in metal industry
[1]After major bargaining and strikes, the 35-hour week is established in the metal industry, with regional implementation differences.
Products and positioning
A large, economically influential industrial union positioned as the principal collective representative of employees in Germany's metalworking, automotive, engineering, electrical, steel, and related manufacturing sectors.
Labor representation
Collective bargaining
IG Metall negotiates collective agreements covering wages, working time, holidays, employment conditions, and responses to restructuring. Agreements reached in influential industrial regions, particularly Baden-Württemberg, can become reference points for other German sectors and regions.
Labor representation
Workplace representation
The union supports members and elected workplace representatives in factories, offices, engineering organizations, and other industrial workplaces. Its work includes co-determination, employment protection, workplace standards, and consultation over technological or organizational change.
Member services
Member advice and legal support
As a membership organization, IG Metall provides information, advice, and representation concerning employment rights and collective agreements. The available support is connected to its local administrative offices and industrial organizing structure.
Publication · 1949
metallzeitung
metallzeitung is IG Metall's member magazine, published since 1949. It communicates bargaining developments, workplace issues, union campaigns, industrial policy positions, and information relevant to members.
Marketing campaigns
- 2024Metal and electrical-sector warning strikes
Germany
Warning strikes were organized after collective bargaining talks failed to bridge the gap between the union's 7 percent wage demand and the employers' 3.6 percent offer over 27 months.
- 2020Four-day week job-protection proposal
Germany
IG Metall proposed negotiating a four-day week to protect employment during the pandemic and the automobile industry's structural transition.
- 2018Pay and flexible working-time campaign
Germany
A nationwide industrial campaign combined wage demands with the right for qualifying employees to reduce their working week temporarily.
Outcome. The settlement created a temporary 28-hour option for certain care responsibilities and included related staffing and compensation provisions.
- 2003Eastern Germany shorter-hours campaign
Eastern Germany
The union sought to extend shorter working hours to factories in eastern Germany.
Outcome. IG Metall abandoned the campaign after its tactics lost broad political and public support.
- 20026.5 percent wage campaign
Germany
IG Metall coordinated a wave of one-day strikes to support a 6.5 percent wage increase.
Outcome. Employers settled the dispute with a pay increase of approximately 4 percent.
- 1995Bavarian working-time strike
Germany
Up to 11,000 workers in Bavaria participated in a two-week strike connected with the campaign for shorter working hours.
Outcome. The 35-hour week became established in the metal industry, although implementation varied by region.
- 198435-hour week campaign
Germany
A seven-week strike in Baden-Württemberg and Hesse pressed employers to reduce standard weekly hours in metalworking.
Outcome. The affected agreements reduced the working week from 37 to 35 hours and established a foundation for later sector-wide reductions.
Brand decisions
2024
Reach a Volkswagen restructuring agreementStrategyBackground
Volkswagen pursued cost reductions and capacity changes during a difficult period for the German automobile industry.
Action taken
After two strikes and approximately 70 hours of negotiations, IG Metall agreed to a restructuring package involving more than 35,000 job cuts and sharp capacity reductions.
Aftermath
The agreement represented a major compromise between employment protection and the company's restructuring demands.
2020
Propose a four-day week for job protectionStrategyBackground
The COVID-19 pandemic and long-term changes in automobile production threatened employment in industrial supply chains.
Action taken
IG Metall proposed negotiations over a four-day week as a way to distribute available work and protect jobs.
2018
Secure a temporary 28-hour working weekStrategyBackground
The bargaining campaign linked wage growth with employees' need to care for children or relatives and to manage changing work-life requirements.
Action taken
IG Metall negotiated an option for qualifying workers to reduce their working week to 28 hours for up to two years.
Aftermath
Working-time flexibility became a central feature of the settlement and an influential example of collective bargaining beyond direct pay increases.
2016
Agree a two-stage metalworking pay increaseOtherBackground
Collective bargaining covered approximately 3.8 million workers in Germany's metalworking sector.
Action taken
IG Metall agreed with employers on a two-stage pay increase totaling 4.8 percent over 21 months.
Aftermath
The settlement became one of the union's notable wage agreements of the decade.
Total pay increase. 4.8 percent (21 months)
2015
Deepen cooperation with the United Auto WorkersStrategyBackground
German automakers and their suppliers operate substantial facilities in the United States, creating a need for cross-border labor coordination.
Action taken
IG Metall and the UAW announced a closer partnership and plans for an office in Tennessee focused on labor rights.
Aftermath
The initiative strengthened international cooperation concerning employees at German automotive companies and suppliers in the United States.
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