08/21/2024 | Berlin is a hotspot for the digital economy. There are more than 145,000 jobs in the capital momentarily. Every fourth new job in Berlin is created in that sector. In May, IG Metall Berlin started an organizing project consisting of five colleagues to unionize the digital economy.
Over the next ten years, 300,000 people are expected to work in the digital economy in Berlin. This is a good reason for IG Metall to inspire colleagues in this changing world of work, in which employees often work digitally and on the move, to join IG Metall.
"We have started this new project with five colleagues in the organizing team and are looking forward to doing pioneering work for IG Metall," says Jan Otto, Chairman of IG Metall’s Berlin local. At the "devcom Developer Conference" in Cologne, a group of video game developers, the so-called Game Devs Roundtable, recently presented their ideas for a good and unionized working environment. "We welcome the Game Devs Roundtable's initiative to campaign for better wages, more stable contracts and fair working hours. IG Metall can already boast some very good collective agreements in the digital economy and many successful works council formations throughout Germany," stresses the chairman.
People from approximately over 30 nations work in Berlin's digital economy, some of whom live in other countries for parts of the year and increasingly work exclusively online. IG Metall’s project team is already building on their experience in the digital world. At CARIAD, Volkswagen's software forge, for example, a very good in-house collective agreement was fought for and more and more employees are organizing themselves in IG Metall.
MBition is another example, that also develops software for the automotive sector. At the Mercedes-Benz subsidiary, the IG Metall list on the works council won by a large majority in May and the colleagues are now building up their trade union work in the company.