We are delighted to welcome German trade unionist and activist Jenny Rotter, who will discuss collective bargaining as a tool for protecting workers amidst the industrial crises impacting core sectors of the German economy – such as automotive and steel – especially crucial in the broader context of the green transition.

Bio: Jenny Rotter has been working for German Trade Unions since 2009, since 2015 for the IG Metall, where she gained experience as an organizer in mid-sized companies. She is a member of the party Die Linke and active in its working group “Workplace and Trade Unions”. It is important to her to strengthen the connection between left-wing political ideas and trade union work.

The seminar: In the capitalist economic system, employees are often exposed to entrepreneurial decisions beyond their control. In many areas concerning working conditions, works councils and trade unions are able to participate and shape outcomes. However, when companies decide to close factories, effective means are often lacking. Nevertheless, IG-Metall (the German metalworking union), has been using social collective agreements (“Sozialtarifverträge”) for several years as a strategic tool to both safe employment and enforce participation in transformation processes. This presentation will address what these agreements can achieve both substantively and strategically, what is required to enforce them, and which successes we have been able to secure despite some setbacks.