“Fire” has again taken public debate over 35 hours in , after the agreement between the German (Deutsche Bahn) and the railway union. Specifically Deutsche Bahn and the German Railway Workers’ Union agreed on the evening of last Monday (25.03. 24) after a week dispute to reduce working hours to 35 hours by 2029. However, workers in Deutsche Bahn also have an alternative option and in particular, they can also work up to 40 hours with a higher fee. Economists such as Clemens Fiest of the Institute of Ifo see the deal as a model for the future, while instead. entrepreneurs warn of enormous risks to the economy and prosperity. “If we want to ensure our well-being, what we can distribute must be increased,” Michael Visser (Michael Wisser), CEO of the Wisag building service provider, told Handelsblatt: “The only way to do this is through more work”. Viser even suggests that everyone works two hours more a week. The German employers’ association BDA warns against using the railway model as a ‘plan’. Many entrepreneurs share this view. Anna – Maria Brown, chairman of the board of medical technology company B. Braun, rejects the fewer hours of work in the form of a four-day week. “If 20% more staff had to be hired here in Germany, it would simply not be possible for us,” he told Handelsblatt. “Because of demographic developments and the lack of skilled workers, we should hold a debate in society as a whole on whether we can afford to work even less,” said Ardt G. Kirchhoff, Chairman of the Kirchhoff Group Advisory Committee and Chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Association of Business Associations. The unions fight for 35 hours a week “There is now a lack of culture of performance in this country,” criticises Daniel Hager, long-term CEO and current chairman of the Hager group’s supervisory board, an electric company with a turnover of around 3.2 billion euros. We must make it clear to people that they must also contribute to increasing prosperity, which can be done not with less, but with more work.” The unions have been fighting for a week 35 hours. IG Metall made an issue of it as early as the 1970s. In 1996, it was introduced into collective agreements for the metal industry in West Germany. At present, the Regulation also applies to more and more metal companies in the East. As is now the case with the German railway union, electoral models are also used. In the 2018 collective bargaining round, for example, employers in the metal and electricity industries and IG Metall agreed on the option of choosing between wage increases and working time reduction. Workers caring for children or relatives in need of care, as well as shift workers, may waive the so-called collectively agreed additional allowance and receive up to eight days’ leave in return. Metalworkers may also apply for ‘reduced full-time’ and reduce their working hours from 35 to 28 hours for a limited period of six to 24 months. The parties to the collective negotiations went much further in the last round of collective steel negotiations. To ensure employment, normal working hours can be reduced collectively from 35 to 32 hours. Workers receive partial compensation for this. Individually, workers can reduce their working hours to 33.6 hours, while shift workers over 60 years of age receive partial compensation. The problem is that such working time models are not generally suitable for all industries. Even IG Metall admits it. IG Metall’s boss, Cristian Benner, has made it clear on several occasions that he considers that the model is suitable for steel, but that it cannot be transferred one by one to other industries. Many would like to reduce their working hours However, the issue of working time remains on the agenda of IG Metall. In view of the upcoming round of collective negotiations on metals, the union asks its members about their wishes. Not all workers are satisfied with their working hours. According to a study by the German Institute for Labour Market and Vocational Research (IAB), full-time workers would like to reduce their actual working hours: Women by 6.2 hours from 40.9 hours on average and men by 42.3 to 5.5 hours. On the other hand, many part-time workers would like to work more. Therefore, the discussion of less work and more free time touched many “strings” of many workers. According to a survey by Hans Böckler Foundation, which is located near the unions, 4 out of 5 full-time workers would like to have a four-day week – but only if there is wage compensation. Supporters like to report pilot tests from the United Kingdom or Iceland, according to which the four-day week leads to higher satisfaction from work and increases productivity despite the short period of time. Employers, however, see little room for a wide reduction in working time with wage compensation. At an average of EUR 39.50 per hour, Germany took seventh place in the EU in 2022. They also point to the rampant shortage of skilled workers and the ageing of society, which are more likely to require additional work. The collective labour agreement in Deutsche Bahn reflects the situation of an individual company, according to the German employer association (BDA). “However, it will not be possible to plan for the entire German economy. Corporate structures in other branches are very different.” According to Wisag CEO Michael Visser, the lack of skilled workers cannot be addressed only with a targeted immigration policy. People with the necessary qualifications no longer wanted to go to Germany. The country has lost its attractiveness in recent decades and is simply too complicated for many, the businessman said. “Because of our economy’s lack of attractiveness, we do not get the staff that this economy needs so urgently,” Vizer said. “And then we also want to reduce working hours? This can’t go well.” Especially with regard to the lack of workers, however, entrepreneurs and managers do not find all the bad things about the railway degree. Many see the greatest flexibility with the possibility of working more hours as a positive development. “In view of the current shortage of workers, this is much smarter than reducing working hours in all sectors,” Natali Mekelburger (Natalie Mekelburger) said, CEO of the Coroplast car industry, who regrets the introduction of the 35-hour week with full wage compensation to railways. Companies need “more flexibility in working hours, for example by changing from day to week maximum working time and regulating rest periods,” Kirhov warns. However, the total reduction in working hours to 35 hours per week is strictly rejected for everyone and with full wage compensation. “Because of the lack of labour and skilled workers, the collective reduction in working hours costs prosperity,” warns Hagen Lesch, an expert in collective bargaining at the Institute of German Economy (IW). Today, working time policy is more concerned with personalising working time, especially with organising working time adapted to life phases. From the railway point of view, the deal is still painful, because the boss of the German railway union Klaus Weselsky (Claus Weselsky). “The most important result of this agreement is that working hours are flexible,” says Ifo’s boss, Clemens Fist (Clemens Fiest), on the compromise of collective bargaining. Workers can work between 35 and 40 hours and those who work more hours receive more money. “This is better to deal with the lack of skilled workers than a forced reduction in the working week to 35 hours for all,” Fist said. In general, the volume of working hours is not consistent with the sharp increase in employment in Germany. “Working hours were never as low as in 2023, except Corona 2020,” said Edso Weber (Enzo Weber) from the Institute for Employment Research earlier this month. According to the report, working hours per employee were 1342 hours – 0.3% below the previous year and 2.2% below the pre-coronavirus level. In addition to the increasing part-time rate, this was due to the high level of sick leave and the fewer overtime. About 30% of workers in Germany now work only part-time. While the number of full-time workers increased by seven percent from 2010 to 2022, the number of part-time workers increased by 28 percent, according to the Federal Statistical Office. At 35.3 hours, the average weekly working time in Germany in 2022 was lower than the EU average of 37.5 hours. However, critics such as Holger Schäfer of the Institute of the German Economy (IW) point out methodological weaknesses – for example, that almost no industrial company was included and that productivity was not properly recorded. Wisag CEO Visser, however, warns against putting too much hope in a further increase in productivity: “In the meantime, many in this country believe that prosperity can be ensured mainly by increasing productivity. I have great doubts about this.” For many years, Germany has been envious of its infrastructure, good training and technical innovative production, the entrepreneur said: “In the meantime, there are not many people who see Germany with admiration. Many of these benefits no longer exist – for known reasons”.
Germany: Civil War for the Week of 35 Hours After the Railway Agreement
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