Germany's IG Metall Approves Day-Long Warning Strikes in a Pay Fight Covering 3.7 Million Workers

The executive board of IG Metall unanimously approved 24-hour warning strikes on Thursday morning, escalating a pay dispute that affects about 3.7 million employees in Germany's metal and electrical engineering industries. No date has been set, because the final word belongs to IG Metall members in the plants chosen for the day-long strikes, with member votes planned from Friday. The gap at the table is wide. The union wants a 5 percent pay rise, while employers have proposed a one-off payment equivalent to 1 percent of pay in July 2027, followed by a 1.3 percent wage increase from July 2028. For Metaintro readers who build cars, machines, aircraft or electrical equipment in Germany, or who are thinking about a job there, this guide covers what the board decided, how a plant vote works, how strike pay works, and what the two sides are really arguing about.

What Did IG Metall Decide on November 12?

The decision came in two steps. The regional bargaining committees met on Wednesday and asked the IG Metall executive board for full-day warning strikes as the next level of escalation, and the board approved them on 12 November 2026.

The trigger was the third round of talks. That round ended without agreement in any of the bargaining regions, and employers stuck to the offer they made in the second round.

Employers reacted the same day. Gesamtmetall President Udo Dinglreiter called the move to prepare day-long strikes completely unnecessary and harmful (translated).

Is the Headline Figure the Number of Workers Who Will Strike?

No. The figure is the size of the industry under this pay round. The talks cover the roughly 3.7 million employees in the metal and electrical industry, negotiated regionally by IG Metall districts with regional employers' associations across 15 bargaining areas, or more than 3.7 million employees on the union's demand page.

The day-long strikes will be smaller than that and targeted. Individual plants are chosen in advance during strike planning, for example by union density, fighting strength and impact, and then approved by the board. Two big groups sit outside this round. Volkswagen AG is not part of the regional metal and electrical agreement and has its own company agreement. Steel also has its own round. For the northwest and east German steel industry, IG Metall is asking for 5 percent more pay over 12 months, with talks starting in mid-December and the peace obligation ending on 31 December 2026.

How Far Apart Are the Union and the Employers on Pay?

The written offer from Gesamtmetall starts with three pay terms. It offers a one-off payment of 1 percent of average annual collectively agreed gross pay in July 2027 that can be varied under the automatic differentiation rules, a 1.3 percent increase in pay tables in July 2028, and a contract running until 31 December 2028. Employers presented it at the same time in five bargaining areas, as a nationally coordinated offer.

The one-off payment is not guaranteed for everyone. The proposal would allow companies facing financial difficulties to withhold the one-off payment.

IG Metall has dismissed the offer as a pay cut in real terms. A 1.3 percent raise after 20 months of waiting, over a 26-month term, works out to only 0.6 percent a year, with inflation of up to 3 percent, IG Metall calculates. The union's own package is broader than the headline rate. It also asks for job and site security, profit sharing in companies doing well, and a social component for low earners and apprentices. Employees in lower pay grades should be better off under the demand.

What Else Are Employers Asking Workers to Give Up?

Pay is only part of the fight. Employers want the automatic differentiation to be widened and made permanent, a mechanism that means, for example, that a plant with problems can postpone or suspend payments. The offer also comes in the expectation of a new plant-level instrument to secure investment, innovation, sites and jobs.

The union lists more. In the union's account, employers also want the annual special payment, or Christmas bonus, made variable, and want changes such as extending working time from 35 to 40 hours to be negotiated with works councils rather than the union. That matters because works councils have no right to strike.

Two requests for talks are on the employer list too. Gesamtmetall wants talks on high sick-leave rates and ways to lower sickness costs, and talks on faster introduction of AI.

The employers' case rests on jobs. Dinglreiter said the industry has lost 350,000 jobs since 2019, and warned that the chance of losing more than a further 300,000 jobs already at risk has clearly risen. He also argued the industry has been in a structural downward trend since 2018 because location conditions such as too-high labour costs are no longer competitive.

Anyone who wants to grind down collective standards, comes along with a minus offer, restricts co-determination rights and shifts decisions out of collective agreements into individual plants is attacking the foundations of the bargaining partnership (translated), IG Metall chair Christiane Benner said, according to the IG Metall bargaining update.

How Does a Day-Long Warning Strike Actually Work?

A full-day warning strike is a step above the short stoppages workers have held so far. IG Metall describes it as an additional level of escalation in pay disputes, used in selected plants, on condition that a majority of IG Metall members in the plant vote for it.

The process runs from the regions to the top and back to the shop floor. The elected bargaining committees, made up mostly of plant representatives, works councillors and IG Metall shop stewards, request the full-day strikes from the executive board. Then the members decide. Only if the majority of members in the plant vote for it does IG Metall call the 24-hour warning strike.

The union's reasoning is about cost. Short warning strikes are easy for employers to absorb, and they can often make up the lost output. Open-ended strikes carry their own risk, since with just-in-time supply chains a strike in one plant can shut down hundreds of others, and employers can then stop paying staff in a so-called cold lockout. Workers who want to know whether their plant is involved are directed to ask their IG Metall shop stewards, and at the latest they will know at the plant vote.

Do Strikers Get Paid, and Can They Be Punished?

The money rules are different from short stoppages. Unlike normal warning strikes, the IG Metall executive board can decide on strike support for members in a 24-hour warning strike. The amount of strike support depends on how long a person has been a member and how much they pay in dues.

The employer does not have to pay wages for the duration of the strike.

Participation is wider than union membership. All employees of a plant on strike may take part, including non-union members, with only senior executives excluded, as the produktion.de explainer sets out. No sanctions, warnings or dismissals may be issued against people taking part in a lawful warning strike, and agency workers may not be used as strikebreakers.

There are limits on what strikers may do. Blocking plants, occupying workplaces and obstructing customers or colleagues who want to work are unlawful. Only the union may call warning strikes.

When Has IG Metall Used Day-Long Strikes Before?

In the 2018 pay round, IG Metall called 24-hour warning strikes at more than 250 firms after talks broke down over a six-percent pay demand and the option to go part-time for up to two years. Workers were to be compensated from union coffers for their loss of pay, unlike in shorter walkouts.

The opening day was large. On 31 January 2018, production stood still in more than 80 plants with around 68,000 employees, and the same release records that regional employers' associations had filed lawsuits for injunctions and damages against the full-day warning strikes that day.

In Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony, IG Metall used the format again on a regional scale, planning to again call full-day warning strikes in the coming days, mainly in Brandenburg and Saxony, as part of what district head Birgit Dietze called a strategy of pushing individual companies directly.

How Big Have the Short Warning Strikes Been So Far?

Short strikes began as soon as the peace obligation ended. The peace obligation ended on Saturday, 31 October 2026 at midnight, and by 10 November more than 400,000 employees had taken part in around 3,800 warning-strike actions.

The stoppages reached the best-known names in German industry. In Baden-Württemberg, large warning strikes hit carmakers such as Mercedes in Sindelfingen, Audi in Neckarsulm and Porsche in Zuffenhausen. In the coastal district, 12,400 employees from four Airbus sites protested on Thursday alone during the opening strike week, and 3,400 apprentices from Bavaria demonstrated in Regensburg for higher apprentice pay.

In Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony, the warning strikes also reached staff at Rosenbauer in Luckenwalde, ASML in Berlin and Purem in Wilsdruff.

Employers pushed back from the start. On 2 November 2026, Gesamtmetall called the actions not justifiable (translated), and the machinery makers' association VDMA warned that more and more firms would think about ending their collective bargaining coverage.

This model for saving jobs and sites must be worked out at the negotiating table, it does not come about through day-long strikes (translated), Gesamtmetall President Udo Dinglreiter said, according to the Gesamtmetall statement on the escalation.

Is the Industry Booming or in Crisis?

Both, depending on the plant. Union surveys of works councillors show 62 percent of plants have good to very good capacity use again. In IG Metall's assessment, the picture varies, while the car and supplier industry is weak, other sectors such as aerospace, medical technology, electrical engineering and defence are booming.

A broader union poll gives a similar split. In a summer survey of 267,000 employees in 2,287 plants, about half rated their plant's situation as very good or good, while one in five saw it as bad (16.9 percent) or very bad (4.7 percent).

In the third round IG Metall proposed time-limited deviations for investment in future products, tied to binding commitments on sites, jobs and training. Under that model, a deviation in a plant must be set by collective agreement rather than a works agreement, limited to three years and extendable by a further two. Employers have so far given no answer to that proposal.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

In IG Metall's view, this round is no longer only about money and jobs but about whether collective standards, co-determination and reliable rules still apply. Employers want differentiation and variable pay, such as for the Christmas bonus, negotiated with works councils rather than with IG Metall (translated), in the union's description. If the union wins its model, deviations stay inside collective agreements and come with written promises on sites, jobs and training.

• If you work in a covered plant, watch for the vote. Your plant may not be on the list at all. If it is, the local IG Metall office will tell you whether and when a full-day strike is planned.
• Know the pay rules before a day out. The board can decide on strike support for members in a 24-hour warning strike, while the employer does not have to pay wages for the duration of the strike.
• If you are job hunting in German industry, look at the sector, not just the brand. Order books are strong at makers of ships, rail vehicles, medical technology, aerospace and defence, while a third of companies, especially in the car industry or mechanical engineering, have a bad to very bad order situation (translated). Compare employers on each side, for example Airbus ramping up production and what it could mean for aerospace jobs against the budget fight over Volkswagen auto jobs.
• Read any offer for the words collective agreement. IG Metall agreements set income, working time, holidays and allowances, and the right to be kept on after training, which is why this fight over plant-level deals matters to new hires too.

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People Also Asked

Q: How many workers are covered by the IG Metall pay round?

A: The talks cover the roughly 3.7 million employees in the metal and electrical industry. That is the size of the sector, not the number of people who will join the day-long strikes.

Q: When will the IG Metall day-long strikes start?

A: No date has been announced. Member votes in the selected plants are planned from Friday, and a plant only strikes for a full day if a majority of its IG Metall members agree.

Q: Can non-members join an IG Metall warning strike?

A: Yes. All employees of a plant on strike may take part, including non-union members, with only senior executives excluded, but strike support from the union is for members.

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