Barbara Resch has been head of the powerful IG Metall Baden-Württemberg since February. This often negotiates pilot agreements for the metal and electrical industries. This is probably the case this fall too. Resch talks about tough politics, ways out of the crisis and new tariff approaches in an interview with the “Schwäbische Zeitung”.

Ms. Resch, you have been at the head of IG Metall Baden-Württemberg for six months. What has changed for you over that time?

I have less free time now. Previously, I was a senior collective bargaining secretary in Baden-Württemberg, which is of course not a boring job. Quite the opposite. But now there is also the exchange with politicians. As well as many internal issues – such as personnel issues – that need to be regulated. All of this takes a lot of time and energy. But I can make things happen. It’s really fun and I don’t regret the change, quite the opposite.

When you took office you said that you wanted to go more into the grassroots. What are you doing specifically?

I travel a lot in Baden-Württemberg and am in constant contact with our 27 local managing directors. And of course I always have discussions in the companies. We want to get even closer to the employees and will therefore be speaking to members and non-members in targeted campaigns throughout the southwest.

What has surprised you the most so far?

(laughs) I had no idea how tough the political business is. I come from a collective policy background. It is structured. And you are measured by the concrete result. You also clearly experience criticism, which always exists. Overall, this work is more measurable. Sometimes I have to smile at myself because I want to quickly move on to the next steps after a political conversation. In fact, it involves drilling very thick and often hard boards. At some appointments the exchange is good and important, but the result is not very concrete.

Do you have the impression that people in Berlin have even understood what is currently happening economically and where the problems actually are?

Often not sufficient in depth. In addition, I perceive that there is a loss of trust between politicians and managers. Just think of the diesel scandal.

But medium-sized suppliers in particular clearly describe the hardships: energy costs, a lack of skilled workers, bureaucracy or sales problems. But they have the impression that Berlin isn’t listening…

It’s probably a difficult mix of distrust of the economy and the traffic light’s lack of ability to act. People often block each other or good ideas are trashed. I think we should basically talk more clearly about the fact that we need industry in our country. If only to preserve our prosperity and social balance. We need the whole spectrum, from the shipyards in the north to the car industry in the south.

What do you mean exactly?

Just a small example: Daimler Truck presented an electric truck with a range of 500 kilometers at the IAA Transport. But there are only 600 charging stations across Europe. But 35,000 are needed. So this innovation doesn’t hit the streets. Politicians must now set the right course. Something similar with the topic of energy. We need prices that allow companies to produce economically. Here too, politics is primarily responsible.

The standstill in Berlin is the ideal breeding ground for political fringes. This also affects the trade unions, which are a reflection of society. What does this do to IG Metall? How do you experience that?

The wind is getting harsher. Especially in a complex situation, the seemingly simple answers get you caught up. The vast majority of our members are very determined against this. That makes me proud! But of course there are people in companies who vote for AfD. As far as we know, we are trying to have a substantive conversation with them, but this is becoming increasingly difficult. But one thing is also clear: we don’t want to have anything to do with AfD officials! We see them as opponents of the unions and our free, pluralistic democracy.

With you in Stuttgart and your colleagues Benner and Boguslawski in Frankfurt, women have moved to the top of the union. Has IG Metall become more female?

For me this is nothing new. We have had many successful women at IG Metall for a long time, especially in Baden-Württemberg. Sometimes it even annoys me when I’m reduced to “being a woman”. Regardless of gender, it depends on whether you do your job well. And that’s what I want to be measured by.

After the first round of collective bargaining, one had the impression that they and Südwestmetall fundamentally agreed on the initial situation. Why are these negotiations still considered so complex?

We have a clear disagreement on the question of what solutions we see for the current economic situation. While, unsurprisingly, employers have identified wage costs as a central problem, we of course see it completely differently.

But wouldn’t it be an opportunity to make things easier in terms of collective bargaining policy rather than driving up costs even more?

The economy is weakening and demand is stalling. People are insecure and are holding on to their money. Therefore, even a “zero round” would not solve the problem, but would worsen it. Companies need to make money, but not through savings and wage restraint. But through investments and innovations, through good products. This is the only way they can become and remain competitive.

Companies respond either with automation or with relocation. There is nothing gained for IG Metall and the employees…

But at some point the game no longer works. If all jobs are relocated abroad, who will then buy the products? What happens next for us? What we urgently need are concepts like the ones we develop and produce innovative products here, preferably with higher productivity. This is more productive than just thinking backwards about a role.

The economies of other countries are growing. So they continue to buy machines and cars there. Just not in Germany anymore, because these products are too expensive. So it’s a cost problem after all?

The times when you could say “Cars from China, they can’t even get the gap right” are over. So we have to question which products and services we can offer in Baden-Württemberg with high quality and productivity. And there are many positive examples where this is successful. But for this we need better political framework conditions. It’s not wages that have to fall, but the location has to improve.

And tariff policy can’t help matters?

Tariff policy can achieve a lot. But it couldn’t fix everything even in the phase when we had high inflation. Tariff policy should not be too demanding either. Not all of the world’s problems can be solved with a round of collective bargaining alone.

At least one could question whether all companies can carry a qualification equally well. Some earn well, others struggle for existence. Time for differentiation?

If companies are demonstrably doing poorly, IG Metall is ready to look for tailor-made solutions. But employers want automatic and permanent differentiation. I say very clearly: That cannot be the answer. The basic idea of ​​trade unions is to strive for equal working conditions across sectors through a collective agreement. I therefore believe that a collective bargaining policy of the future could use a collective agreement as a common basis and offer additional “building blocks”. But that is a long-term approach that does not play a role in this round of collective bargaining.

Why?

It must be designed in such a way that the employer cannot make decisions alone, but employees’ co-determination rights and the role of the unions are secured. Individual employers are already demanding that a “area-light” collective agreement be made for small companies. But then the whole construct would be difficult to implement. The area collective agreement must remain the basis. As mentioned above, building blocks could then be developed additively that fit the company and then be put into practice.