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Time over money? Germany’s largest union defends 28-hour week

Tens of thousands of German workers downed tools this week as the country's largest union ramped up its battle for the right to a 28-hour week.

Published: 11 January 2018 09:00 CET
Time over money? Germany's largest union defends 28-hour week
Employees during a warning strike in Brandenburg on Wednesday. Photo: DPA

As union leaders and employers return to the negotiating table Thursday, here's what you need to know about IG Metall's groundbreaking campaign to rethink the work-life balance – and what it could mean for the rest of the country.

What do they want?

IG Metall represents some 3.9 million workers in Germany's crucial metal and electrical engineering industries.

As in past industry-wide negotiations with employers, it is pushing for a wage hike – this time seeking a whopping six-percent increase.

But most striking in the current showdown has an emphasis on giving employees the freedom to tailor their work hours to their personal lives.

READ ALSO: These German cities offer the best work-life balance

The union wants all workers to have the option of switching from a 35- to a 28-hour week for a two-year period, with a guaranteed return to full-time work afterwards.

In certain cases – and this has been the most headline-grabbing demand – the union says employers should make up some of the salary loss that would result from clocking up fewer hours.

It wants those caring for young children or elderly relatives, for example, to receive an extra €200 a month.

And shift workers or others whose working hours can weigh on health should be entitled to an additional €750 annually, it says.

What are the arguments for a shorter week?

IG Metall says flexible working time has so far mainly benefited employers who got staff to put in longer days.

But with Europe's top economy humming and unemployment at a record-low, it believes the time is right for a radical shake-up.

“Workers aren't only workers, they have personal lives, children, old parents,” Berlin IG Metall chief Olivier Hoebel told strikers at a demonstration on Monday. “Working life can't only be about sacrifice.”

IG Metall believes its proposals would especially benefit women, large numbers of whom work part-time for family reasons and currently don't have an automatic way back to full-time employment when their situation changes.

How have employers reacted?

With a firm 'no'.

The Gesamtmetall employers' federation has predictably balked at the suggestion of paying staff extra to work less.

It has dismissed the proposals as “too costly” and “unfair” to those already in part-time work under less generous conditions.

It says introducing the compensation measure would be discriminatory and open companies up to legal action.

After two rounds of negotiations, employers have so far offered a two-percent wage increase, but no progress has been made on the 28-hour issue.

What would the impact be?

Where IG Metall goes, others tend to follow.

Europe's largest trade union was instrumental in pushing through a 35-hour working week in the 1990s, and employers across Germany are closely watching to see if the next labour revolution is around the corner.

Already the call for a shorter week has triggered heated debate about quality of life and the future of work in a world where jobs are increasingly automated.

Supporters have praised the union's proposals as “very modern” and said they could help firms hang on to their best and brightest.

But critics have countered that a reduced week could exacerbate a shortage of skilled workers, while smaller firms in particular might struggle to meet production targets.

“If it would be replicated throughout the economy, it could do serious damage,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank .

Gesamtmetall estimates that some 1.5 million workers would be eligible for the proposed compensation if they chose the 28-hour route. IG Metall however believes the actual take-up would be far lower.

Where to go from here?

A third round of talks starts Thursday, but there's little hope of a breakthrough.

IG Metall raised the stakes this week, with tens of thousands of workers launching hours-long “warning strikes” at dozens of firms including Volkswagen, BMW and Siemens.

It has vowed to call day-long walkouts if the standoff continues and even threatened to stage the union's first nationwide, open-ended strike since 2003.

“If on Thursday we still can't see a willingness to seriously talk about these issues, the situation will escalate,” IG Metall chief for southwestern Germany, Roman Zitzelsberger, told the Handelsblatt financial daily.

For members

VISAS

Germany or Austria: Where is it easier to get an EU Blue Card?

The EU Blue Card is a common way for skilled non-EU workers to come to European countries like Germany and Austria. But where is it easier to get one?

Published: 9 March 2023 10:59 CET
Germany or Austria: Where is it easier to get an EU Blue Card?

Though obvious friends with a deeply linked history, Germany and Austria are competing against each other in the global race for skilled workers. Germany needs as many as 400,000 new skilled workers a year to plug its labour market gap. There are over 100,000 vacancies in Austria – a country of just nine million people.

What eligibility rules for an EU Blue Card are there in each country?

In Germany, nationals from countries that need a visa to enter, which includes most non-EU countries, first need to apply for a visa that will allow them to take up gainful employment – which could include a jobseeker’s visa.

After that, they can make an appointment at their local immigration office to obtain an EU Blue Card. If someone is a national of a country that doesn’t need a visa to enter Germany, such as an EU/EFTA state or a handful of non-EU countries like the USA, Canada, Japan and the UK, they can apply for their EU Blue Card after arriving in Germany.

For many EU Blue Card applicants in Germany, they’ll need to have:

  • A university degree linked to their job
  • A job offer with a proposed salary of at least €56,400 a year

However, the salary requirement drops to €43,992 annually if the applicant is filling a job in a profession experiencing a particular shortage in Germany. These include doctors, engineers, IT specialists, mathematicians and natural scientists.

A key factor here is whether someone looking to get an EU Blue Card is a national of a country that needs a jobseeker visa to enter Germany in the first place. People from these countries (which includes most non-EU countries) may have a slightly tougher time. That’s because, in addition to fulfilling the requirements of an EU Blue Card, they’ll need to have a few extra things to get the German jobseeker visa. These are:

  • proof of German language skills (typically B1 level)
  • proof of ability to pay living costs

Additionally, people older than 45 and coming to Germany for the first time on a work visa need an offer with an annual salary of at least €46,530.

The German city of Munich.

The German city of Munich. Photo by ian kelsall on Unsplash

Another thing to keep in mind is that the German government is currently trying to push through a reform of the immigration laws, which aims to make it easier for skilled workers from abroad to enter the country. As part of this reform, the rules for IT professionals are set to be relaxed so that people with career experience or skills can be accepted for a Blue Card without a university degree. 

READ ALSO: What’s in Germany’s new draft law on skilled immigration?

By contrast, as things stand at the moment, Austria’s EU Blue Card salary requirements are slightly easier, even if other factors remain the same. You can also apply for it at an Austrian mission abroad before arriving. You’re eligible for an EU Blue Card in Austria if:

  • You have a university degree which matches your job OR
  • If applying to the IT industry, you have three years of relevant experience, as long as you’ve earned those in the last seven years.
  • A job offer with a proposed gross salary of at least €45,595 a year

So, Austria’s overall annual salary requirement is more than €10,000 lower than Germany’s – unless the applicant is in a skilled profession the German labour market is particularly short of. In that case, their salary requirement for an EU Blue Card in Germany is around €1,500 less than in Austria – but only for those professions.

READ ALSO: How Austria is making it easier for non-EU workers to get residence permits

However, one key factor in Austria is that the company offering the job needs to prove that there are currently no Austrian residents unemployed and registered with the employment agency AMS that could fit that particular position.

According to the Austrian authorities, one of the main requirements is that “the labour market test (Arbeitsmarktprüfung) shows that there is no equally qualified worker registered as a jobseeker with the Public Employment Service (AMS) available for the job.” This could be particularly tricky to prove.

What privileges exist for those are already hold an EU Blue Card?

Other than the obvious right to live and work in the country for at least two years, EU Blue Card holders in Germany are typically eligible for permanent residence much earlier than normal.

While a regular applicant is eligible after at least five years in Germany, EU Blue Card holders can apply for permanent residency after 33 months – or just under three years. Blue Card holders who demonstrate good German language skills – such as by passing a certified language test – can get permanent residence after 21 months, or just under two years in Germany.

EU Blue Card holders in Austria can apply to stay longer than two years with another special card – the Red-White-Red Card Plus. Germany, by contrast, makes permanent residence available quickly. (Photo by Pixabay / Pexels)

After 21 months of working in Austria under an EU Blue Card, you can apply for a Red-White-Red Card Plus. This card gives you unlimited access to the Austrian labour market and the right to stay with similar conditions to those enjoyed by permanent residency holders in Germany. However, it runs out in Austria after a year.

After two years of legal residence in Austria and completion of an integration module, you can get a Red-White-Red Card Plus that’s valid for three years. It takes people five years of residence in Austria to qualify for permanent residency, so a Blue Card and then a Red-White-Red Card Plus can potentially give someone a path to permanent residency in Austria. However, the path requires more bureaucratic steps than in Germany.

The eligibility versus rewards trade-off

Ultimately, an EU Blue Card is a bit harder to get in Germany than in Austria for non-EU skilled workers in most professions, when it comes to the minimum salary requirement being higher. However, Austrian companies need to prove that a candidate offers something no other unemployed person in Austria can offer.

That said, those who do get the EU Blue Card in Germany have an easier, more guaranteed path to permanent residence in Germany, much sooner than in Austria.

We should note though, that both countries have other types of work visas for people who don’t qualify for the EU Blue Card.

READ ALSO: How to apply for Germany’s new ‘opportunity card’ and other visas for job seekers

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