IG Metall’s demands for a wage increase of 6 per cent were adequate given that dividend payouts rose by 10-15 per cent, Hofmann said in remarks released today, adding that firms had enough leeway to pay up without choking off investments.
“And I do think that we will reach a decent result there,” he said.
IG Metall has threatened to call for all-out strikes across the industrial sector if talks with employers over wages and flexible hours scheduled for Thursday fail to make progress.
A big sticking point is a proposal that workers should receive the right to reduce their weekly hours to 28 from 35 to care for children or elderly or sick relatives, and return to full-time employment after two years.
Employers have so far offered 2 per cent plus a one-off €200 (£178) payment in the first quarter and have rejected demands for a shorter working week unless hours could be increased temporarily as well.
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“Employers have to give up their veto position,” Hofmann said.
He added that he was sceptical about whether much progress would be made in talks scheduled today in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where Daimler, Bosch and Porsche are based.
In neighbouring Bavaria negotiations resume on January 15 and to the north in North Rhine-Westphalia on January 18.