COMP NEWS – One of Europe’s largest industrial unions is calling for a four-day work week over a pay raise ahead of collective bargaining negotiations later this year.
Germany’s IG Metall (IGM), Europe’s largest industrial union, is calling for a four-day work week at their current salary rather than a pay raise for the country’s metalworkers ahead of collective bargaining negotiations this November.
“We want to achieve real relief for workers without having them earn less because of it,” said IGM North Rhine-Westphalia district leader Knut Giesler ahead of collective bargaining negotiations that will affect metal and steelworkers in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Hesse and Bremen.
Giesler argued the shorter week would greatly improve workers’ health and quality of life while at the same time making the industry more attractive to younger workers and combatting expected job losses in the shift toward producing so-called green steel.
The four-day work week continues picking up favor among developed countries, particularly in the UK, where multiple long studies have indicated positive benefits for companies that switch over.
A recent six-month-long UK study conducted among 3,000 employees at 60 UK companies said it found a four-day work week more productive than the traditional five-day week for most staff and businesses.
The study found the small reduction in hours worked was not only beneficial to employees but to companies as well.
A labor force that was more well rested and far-happier and healthier when starting their week, the study found, meant that productivity was in no way diminished, hiring increased, absenteeism dropped and
profits soared.
The study was carried out by the London non-profit 4 Day Week Global, Autonomy think tank, the University of Cambridge, and Boston College in the US.
Moreover, analysts said they saw significant increases in employees’ physical and mental health and their overall satisfaction with life and work — showing that stress, burnout, fatigue and sleep deprivation all decreased as a result of the change.
To read more about IGM’s push for a four-day work week, click here.
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