Germany's IG Metall metalworkers' trade union has launched a "debate on the future", in order to develop new perspectives and strategies for the union, which faces dwindling membership. The debate, which is divided into three phases, will last for two years from May 2001. Over this period, IG Metall will organise opinion polls, discussion groups and conferences dealing with the future of work, trade unions, society, the economy and politics. The outcomes will be published in a manifesto and translated into practice at the IG Metall congress in 2003.
During winter 2000, the IG Metall metalworkers' trade union launched a "debate on the future" (Zukunftsdebatte), aimed at developing new perspectives and strategies for the union. It is foreseen that the debate will last for two years and that its outcomes will be translated into practice at the IG Metall congress in 2003. IG Metall has published a pamphlet entitled Zukunft. Neue Wege wagen ("The future. Prospecting new paths") in which the background, content and course of the debate are explained. In addition, the debate is accompanied by a publication entitled metall debatte ("Debate on IG Metall") which will appear at frequent intervals and will allow trade unionists and others to express their views on the debate.
Course of the debate
The debate on the future of IG Metall is to be divided into three phases:
- the first phase, known as Mehr erkennen ("knowing more"), will start in May 2001. This phase aims to collect different views by means of an opinion poll which consists of four parts. First, works councils and union workplace representatives in companies will distribute a short questionnaire to union members, non-members and officials. This survey is to be organised by the IG Metall administration. Second, discussions will be held with people under the age of 25, employees in the information technology (IT) sector, skilled employees and other target groups in and outside companies. Third, a representative opinion poll among 2,500 union members, non-members and officials will be carried out by an external opinion research institute. Finally, all three activities will be jointly assessed during the so-called ""Wochen der Befragung ("polling weeks"). The results will be recorded in a ""Zukunftsreport ("report on the future") which is to be discussed within IG Metall as well as with the public;
- the second phase, known as ""Weiter denken ("thinking further"), will last from autumn 2001 to March 2002. During this period, the report on the future will be discussed at a "future congress" of the IG Metall youth section, by discussion groups at regional conferences, at local events, in companies, and at nationwide congresses and similar platforms for the expression of opinions. It is also planned to initiate public debates with researchers, politicians, political parties and federations. In this phase, IG Metall wants to demonstrate its ability to reform, create opportunities for identifying new options and present itself as a lively and learning organisation. It is intended that all the discussions and platforms for discussion will act as preparations for an IG Metall "future congress"; and
- the third phase, known as ""Zukunft leben ("living future") will start in April 2002 and will translate the outcomes of the previous phases into a ""Zukunftsmanifest ("future manifesto"), which will be presented at the "future congress". The whole discussion will influence the union's programme and prepare the way for the IG Metall congress in 2003.
Reasons for the debate
The "debate on the future of IG Metall" has been launched because of fundamental changes in society, the economy and politics, which can be described briefly by terms such as globalisation, the "new economy", outsourcing and individualisation. Although unions have changed too, they are also facing massive problems, especially concerning union membership, which is still declining (DE0103210N). IG Metall membership dropped from 2,834,861 in 1999 to 2,763,485 in 2000, a fall of 2.5%.
IG Metall believes that there are various reasons for this decline in membership: young people or employees in the IT sector view unions as "fossils" of the 1970s; women criticise unions for their male-dominated structures; and, overall, unions might appear to be outmoded and unable to deal with the change from the industrial society to the knowledge- and information-based society. IG Metall points out that it does not mean to give up its traditional aims and values by promoting the "debate on the future" and that collective bargaining autonomy, equal opportunities, equal pay and training will still be important topics for the union. However, in order to strengthen the union's ability to assert itself in collective bargaining and at company level, it seems important to reinvent its main themes and social and political strategies.
Topics of the debate
The "debate on the future" will take the form of an open debate, which means that the discussions will be structured as a process from the bottom to the top and not vice versa. This concept means that no definitive answers or fixed targets will be given but only open questions, which will revolve around the following central themes.
- The future of work: End of gainful employment? Change towards more self-employment? Increase of marginal-time employment? Perspectives for the collective regulation of income, working time and working conditions? Contents, structure and strategies of bargaining policy in future? Relevance of employee shares? Reconciliation of work and family life? How to realise equal opportunities for men and women and how to increase labour market opportunities for women? Importance of vocational training and further training on the job?
- The future of unions: Are unions modern? Why become a member? How to organise members in new sectors and in small and medium-sized companies? What is the role of female employment in the future? Specific forms to organise young employees? What is the role of cooperation strategies with the government and employers' associations? How to deal with globalisation? How to act in case of transfers or closure of production sites?
- The future of society: How to guarantee tolerance and living together in a multicultural society? Of what relevance is social justice? Are wealth, influence and opportunities in general equally shared in society? Do individualisation and solidarity conflict? Are new experiences of solidarity appearing?
- The future of the economy: What kind of opportunities and what kind of risks does globalisation produce? What kind of social regulation is necessary in the light of important changes in the information and communication sector? How does digitalisation influence work and living? Has the power of the economy increased while its social responsibility has decreased? What role does the individual person play in times of mergers and stock-exchange speculation?
- The future of politics: How can politics and unions react to global capitalism? Which values are to be guaranteed by politics? Is the national "Alliance for Jobs (DE9812286N)" a platform for shaping society? Can the state create social justice?
On 23-24 March 2001, IG Metall together with various institutes for labour research in the Northrhine-Westphalia region held the first conference within the "debate on the future", dealing with The future of work/The future of education.
Commentary
The "debate on the future" of IG Metall is an innovative but demanding project. Obviously, IG Metall wants to face up to the difficulties of recruiting new members with an offensive strategy, and this deserves credit. The fact that the debate will not be held among members and union officials only, but that IG Metall aims to involve as many different people and groups as possible in order to obtain different opinions might be a first step towards presenting the union as an innovative and open organisation. The interesting aspects will be whether many people will participate in the debate and whether it will be possible to work out some common concepts during the debate. The questions which are central to this debate are very broad in order to allow for this open debate – but they are also very vague so far and it is impossible to predict the outcomes. As it is planned that the "debate on the future" will contribute strategies for IG Metall, the debate must become more than a forum for discussion and some ideas will have to be translated into practice. To sum up, it might be said that the innovative and attractive approach taken by the debate may become its main difficulty. (Alexandra Scheele, Institute for Economic and Social Research, WSI)