---
title: "Germany's IG Metall Approves Day-Long Warning Strikes in…"
canonical: "https://www.metaintro.com/blog/ig-metall-day-long-strikes-pay-fight"
language: "en"
author: "drashtigarach"
published: "2026-11-13T14:57:47.000Z"
modified: "2026-11-13T14:57:47.000Z"
---

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

IG Metall approved 24-hour warning strikes in a pay fight covering 3.7 million German workers. No date is set yet, and plant members must vote. Here is how.

[![Drashti Garach](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:40:40/q:72/plain/images/5719d740-e510-42bc-8017-e040d145f35f_1766029465094.png)Drashti Garach @DrashtiGarach](/blog/author/drashtigarach)

[November 13, 2026](/blog/archive/2026/11)13 min read

![Metalworkers in red caps with blank placards outside a German factory gate on a sunny day, side-on from across the street](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:1200:675/q:78/plain/images/10864.jpg)

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[The executive board of IG Metall unanimously approved 24-hour warning strikes on Thursday morning](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde), escalating a pay dispute that affects [about 3.7 million employees in Germany's metal and electrical engineering industries](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/2/german-unions-launch-wave-of-strikes-over-cost-of-living-pressures). 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde). The gap at the table is wide. The union wants [a 5 percent pay rise](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/2/german-unions-launch-wave-of-strikes-over-cost-of-living-pressures), 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](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/2/german-unions-launch-wave-of-strikes-over-cost-of-living-pressures). For [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com) 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde), and the board approved them on [12 November 2026](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde).

The trigger was the third round of talks. That round [ended without agreement in any of the bargaining regions](https://www.dgb.de/service/weiterer-service/tarifmeldungen/tarifmeldung/tarifrunde-metall-und-elektro-ueber-400000-beschaeftigte-im-warnstreik/), and employers [stuck to the offer they made in the second round](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde).

Employers reacted the same day. Gesamtmetall President Udo Dinglreiter called the move to prepare day-long strikes [completely unnecessary and harmful](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/gesamtmetall-praesident-dr-udo-dinglreiter-eskalation-der-tarifrunde-durch-die-ig-metall-ist-ueberfluessig-und-schaedlich/) (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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde), or [more than 3.7 million employees](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/tarifrunde-metall-und-elektro-2026) 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks). 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/tarifrunde-metall-und-elektro-2026). 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/eisen-und-stahl/stahl-tarifrunde-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](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/tarifrunde-2026-in-der-metall-und-elektro-industrie-arbeitgeber-legen-zeitgleich-angebot-in-fuenf-tarifgebieten-vor/) that can be varied under the automatic differentiation rules, a [1.3 percent increase in pay tables in July 2028](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/tarifrunde-2026-in-der-metall-und-elektro-industrie-arbeitgeber-legen-zeitgleich-angebot-in-fuenf-tarifgebieten-vor/), and a contract running [until 31 December 2028](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/tarifrunde-2026-in-der-metall-und-elektro-industrie-arbeitgeber-legen-zeitgleich-angebot-in-fuenf-tarifgebieten-vor/). Employers presented it [at the same time in five bargaining areas, as a nationally coordinated offer](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/tarifrunde-2026-in-der-metall-und-elektro-industrie-arbeitgeber-legen-zeitgleich-angebot-in-fuenf-tarifgebieten-vor/).

The one-off payment is [not guaranteed for everyone](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde). The proposal [would allow companies facing financial difficulties to withhold the one-off payment](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/2/german-unions-launch-wave-of-strikes-over-cost-of-living-pressures).

IG Metall has [dismissed the offer as a pay cut in real terms](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/2/german-unions-launch-wave-of-strikes-over-cost-of-living-pressures). 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde), 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde). [Employees in lower pay grades should be better off](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/tarifrunde-metall-und-elektro-2026) 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](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/tarifrunde-2026-in-der-metall-und-elektro-industrie-arbeitgeber-legen-zeitgleich-angebot-in-fuenf-tarifgebieten-vor/), a mechanism that means, [for example, that a plant with problems can postpone or suspend payments](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde). The offer also comes [in the expectation of a new plant-level instrument to secure investment, innovation, sites and jobs](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/tarifrunde-2026-in-der-metall-und-elektro-industrie-arbeitgeber-legen-zeitgleich-angebot-in-fuenf-tarifgebieten-vor/).

The union lists more. In the union's account, employers also want [the annual special payment, or Christmas bonus, made variable](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde), and want changes such as [extending working time from 35 to 40 hours to be negotiated with works councils rather than the union](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde). That matters because [works councils have no right to strike](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde).

Two requests for talks are on the employer list too. Gesamtmetall wants [talks on high sick-leave rates and ways to lower sickness costs](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/tarifrunde-2026-in-der-metall-und-elektro-industrie-arbeitgeber-legen-zeitgleich-angebot-in-fuenf-tarifgebieten-vor/), and [talks on faster introduction of AI](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/tarifrunde-2026-in-der-metall-und-elektro-industrie-arbeitgeber-legen-zeitgleich-angebot-in-fuenf-tarifgebieten-vor/).

The employers' case rests on jobs. Dinglreiter said the industry has [lost 350,000 jobs since 2019](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/gesamtmetall-praesident-dr-udo-dinglreiter-eskalation-der-tarifrunde-durch-die-ig-metall-ist-ueberfluessig-und-schaedlich/), and warned that the chance of losing more than [a further 300,000 jobs already at risk](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/gesamtmetall-praesident-dr-udo-dinglreiter-eskalation-der-tarifrunde-durch-die-ig-metall-ist-ueberfluessig-und-schaedlich/) has clearly risen. He also argued the industry has been [in a structural downward trend since 2018](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/tarifrunde-2026-in-der-metall-und-elektro-industrie-arbeitgeber-legen-zeitgleich-angebot-in-fuenf-tarifgebieten-vor/) 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde).

## 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks).

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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks). 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks).

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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks). 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks). 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks).

## 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks). The amount of [strike support depends on how long a person has been a member and how much they pay in dues](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/tarifrunde-metall-und-elektro-2026).

[The employer does not have to pay wages for the duration of the strike](https://www.produktion.de/wirtschaft/ig-metall-kuendigt-warnstreiks-an-37-millionen-beschaeftigte-vor-arbeitskampf/2760346).

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](https://www.produktion.de/wirtschaft/ig-metall-kuendigt-warnstreiks-an-37-millionen-beschaeftigte-vor-arbeitskampf/2760346), as the produktion.de explainer sets out. [No sanctions, warnings or dismissals may be issued against people taking part in a lawful warning strike](https://www.produktion.de/wirtschaft/ig-metall-kuendigt-warnstreiks-an-37-millionen-beschaeftigte-vor-arbeitskampf/2760346), and [agency workers may not be used as strikebreakers](https://www.produktion.de/wirtschaft/ig-metall-kuendigt-warnstreiks-an-37-millionen-beschaeftigte-vor-arbeitskampf/2760346).

There are limits on what strikers may do. [Blocking plants, occupying workplaces and obstructing customers or colleagues who want to work are unlawful](https://www.produktion.de/wirtschaft/ig-metall-kuendigt-warnstreiks-an-37-millionen-beschaeftigte-vor-arbeitskampf/2760346). [Only the union may call warning strikes](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde).

## 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](https://www.thelocal.com/20180131/metalworkers-to-down-tools) 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](https://www.thelocal.com/20180131/metalworkers-to-down-tools), 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](https://www.igmetall.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/gelungener-auftakt-der-bundesweiten-ganztaegigen-warnstrei), and the same release records that regional employers' associations had [filed lawsuits for injunctions and damages against the full-day warning strikes](https://www.igmetall.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/gelungener-auftakt-der-bundesweiten-ganztaegigen-warnstrei) 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](https://www.l-iz.de/melder/wortmelder/2021/05/weiterhin-stillstand-in-der-angleichungsfrage-kraftvolle-warnstreiks-in-sachsen-und-brandenburg-ab-donnerstag-388774), 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde), and by [10 November more than 400,000 employees had taken part in around 3,800 warning-strike actions](https://www.dgb.de/service/weiterer-service/tarifmeldungen/tarifmeldung/tarifrunde-metall-und-elektro-ueber-400000-beschaeftigte-im-warnstreik/).

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](https://www.igmetall.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2026/warnstreik-welle-ueber-400000-beschaeftigte-fordern-von-arbeitgebern-bewegung-und-verbindlichkeit). In the coastal district, [12,400 employees from four Airbus sites protested on Thursday alone](https://www.igmetall.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2026/warnstreik-welle-ueber-400000-beschaeftigte-fordern-von-arbeitgebern-bewegung-und-verbindlichkeit) during the opening strike week, and [3,400 apprentices from Bavaria demonstrated in Regensburg for higher apprentice pay](https://www.igmetall.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2026/warnstreik-welle-ueber-400000-beschaeftigte-fordern-von-arbeitgebern-bewegung-und-verbindlichkeit).

In Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony, the warning strikes also reached staff at [Rosenbauer in Luckenwalde, ASML in Berlin and Purem in Wilsdruff](https://www.igmetall.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2026/warnstreik-welle-ueber-400000-beschaeftigte-fordern-von-arbeitgebern-bewegung-und-verbindlichkeit).

Employers pushed back from the start. On 2 November 2026, Gesamtmetall called the actions [not justifiable](https://orf.at/stories/3446885/) (translated), and the machinery makers' association VDMA warned that [more and more firms would think about ending their collective bargaining coverage](https://orf.at/stories/3446885/).

> 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](https://www.gesamtmetall.de/gesamtmetall-praesident-dr-udo-dinglreiter-eskalation-der-tarifrunde-durch-die-ig-metall-ist-ueberfluessig-und-schaedlich/).

## 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde). 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde).

A broader union poll gives a similar split. In a summer survey of [267,000 employees in 2,287 plants](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/tarifrunde-metall-und-elektro-2026), 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)](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/tarifrunde-metall-und-elektro-2026).

In the third round IG Metall proposed [time-limited deviations for investment in future products, tied to binding commitments on sites, jobs and training](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde). 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde). Employers have so far [given no answer to that proposal](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde).

## 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde). Employers want [differentiation and variable pay, such as for the Christmas bonus, negotiated with works councils rather than with IG Metall](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde) (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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde).

- **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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks).
- **Know the pay rules before a day out.** [The board can decide on strike support for members in a 24-hour warning strike](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks), while [the employer does not have to pay wages for the duration of the strike](https://www.produktion.de/wirtschaft/ig-metall-kuendigt-warnstreiks-an-37-millionen-beschaeftigte-vor-arbeitskampf/2760346).
- **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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/tarifrunde-metall-und-elektro-2026) (translated). Compare employers on each side, for example [Airbus ramping up production and what it could mean for aerospace jobs](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/airbus-ramping-up-production-aerospace-jobs-2026) against [the budget fight over Volkswagen auto jobs](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/volkswagen-auto-jobs-boardroom-budget-fight).
- **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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/tarifrunde-metall-und-elektro-2026), 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde). 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](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/tarifrunden/metall-und-elektro/aktionen-zur-metall-tarifrunde), and [a plant only strikes for a full day if a majority of its IG Metall members agree](https://www.igmetall.de/tarif/was-sind-eigentlich-24-stunden-warnstreiks).

### 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](https://www.produktion.de/wirtschaft/ig-metall-kuendigt-warnstreiks-an-37-millionen-beschaeftigte-vor-arbeitskampf/2760346), but strike support from the union is for members.

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