IG Metall rejects employers' first pay offer as Bavarian metal talks stall

Second round ends without a deal

The second round of collective bargaining for Bavaria's metal and electrical industry ended on 27 October 2026 without an agreement. Bayerischer Rundfunk reported that about 3,000 employees had gathered outside Coburg Castle before the talks to press the employers. The first round had taken place on 8 October, and this time the employers' association vbm brought its own proposal. Both sides remain far apart, and the IG Metall union has announced warning strikes.

The employers' offer

The offer foresees a one-off payment in July 2027 equal to 1 percent of the average annual tariff gross salary, which IG Metall puts at 664 euros in Bavaria. Economically weak companies could suspend that payment. Pay scales would rise by 1.3 percent only from July 2028, and the contract would run until the end of 2028, a total of 26 months. The employers' associations tabled a coordinated offer across five bargaining districts at the same time, a first in tariff history. The package also proposes a company-level instrument that would give works councils, rather than the union, responsibility for talks on investment, innovation, sites and jobs. Employers want to discuss high sickness rates and their cost, and they are pressing for faster introduction of artificial intelligence in plants.

The union rejects the offer as too low

IG Metall demands 5 percent more pay for the roughly 836,000 employees in Bavaria, plus 110 euros more for trainees, on a contract of 12 months. Horst Ott, the union's district leader in Bavaria, rejected the offer in sharp terms.

“What they presented to us today has nothing to do with a respectful offer.”

Ott added that, given price increases, employees would have to wait 20 months for a lasting pay rise, which he said would mean a significant real wage loss. Knut Giesler, the district leader in North Rhine-Westphalia, called the offer too late, too low and too long in duration. He also said the proposed company instrument would cut personnel costs.

Warning strikes and the sector backdrop

The peace obligation ends at the close of 31 October, and warning strikes become possible from Sunday, 1 November. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the union's bargaining commission is due to decide on Saturday, 31 October. Barbara Resch, the IG Metall district leader in Baden-Württemberg, announced warning strikes from 1 November and said the pay increase is too low.

“The pay increase is too low and comes too late.”

Peter Sebastian Krause, the negotiator for the Baden-Württemberg employers' association Südwestmetall, said about 25 percent of its 641 member companies are loss-making. He added that a further roughly 20 percent earn a net return above 2.3 percent, and that about 45 percent of firms could use the exception. Gesamtmetall president Udo Dinglreiter said both sides agree on the scale of the crisis.

“The scale of the threat to tens of thousands more jobs has obviously not yet reached large parts of the union.”

Gesamtmetall reports that nearly 350,000 jobs have disappeared in the sector since 2019. Carmakers, their suppliers and machine builders face the heaviest problems, while defence, aerospace and rail vehicle builders are booming and fall within the scope of the agreement.