SAP News: IG Metall wins works council election

SAP headquarters

So far, the unions have had a difficult time with the software manufacturer.

(Photo: Bert Bostelmann / picture folio for Handelsblatt)

Dusseldorf The big unions have had a hard time at SAP for a long time: the degree of organization at the software manufacturer is low, and independent groups dominate in the employee representatives. But the result of the current works council election at SAP SE, the parent company with almost 22,000 employees, is a turning point.

IG Metall and Verdi have been able to significantly strengthen their positions and will provide a total of 15 of the 45 representatives – a historic high for the software manufacturer. This emerges from the provisional election results that the election board published on Wednesday night.

The outgoing works council chairman Klaus Merx gives an important reason for the postponement: “The fact that the trade union groups have become stronger is certainly also due to the meager salary round,” Merx told the Handelsblatt. In addition, the works council was shaken last year by a scandal in the course of which two employee representatives had to leave the group.

IG Metall’s “Pro Co-determination” list has tripled its share of the vote at SAP SE to almost 19 percent and will nominate nine works councils. This makes it the largest faction. The second strongest force is “Triple E”, where several representatives of other groups have come together, with eight seats. Verdi’s “Upgrade” list received twelve percent of the votes and now has six representatives.

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A total of twelve lists are represented, six of which may only send one representative each. Compared to corporations like Volkswagen and Bayer, where the DGB unions get 80 percent or more of the votes, SAP’s employee representation is fragmented. Voter turnout was 43 percent, slightly lower than four years ago.

Salary increase below inflation rate

SAP is widely regarded as an attractive employer. However, resentment about the pay has spread among the workforce. Since there is no collective agreement at SAP, the board sets the budget for salary increases. In 2022 it will be 2.7 percent more than the previous year, which includes funding for promotions – less than the inflation rate.

In the works council election campaign, both union lists positioned themselves on the issue, with IG Metall being particularly aggressive. She published a survey according to which many employees are dissatisfied with the pay. The situation at SAP is “precarious,” claimed union secretary Türker Baloglu. SAP criticized the study as unrepresentative.

“More and more people have understood that a strong partner is needed in the background to represent employees’ interests,” said Andreas Hahn, who heads Verdi’s “upgrade” list, commenting on the election result. “The underground communication on the salary round in the SE certainly contributed to this.”

In addition, there was a complex scandal involving two high-ranking works council members on the “Stark” list, both of whom have since had to leave SAP. The group lost significantly in the election, as did a coalition partner.

Alliances without IG Metall are also conceivable

“Pro participation” and “upgrade” could form a majority together with a third list. That’s not certain, there are disagreements between the two trade union groups despite a cooperation agreement. Verdi differs “not much from the other lists,” said Türker Baloglu from IG Metall Heidelberg of the “Stuttgarter Zeitung”. He described his colleagues as “softies”.

Alliances without IG Metall are therefore also conceivable. “We are open in many directions and have held numerous talks,” signaled Andreas Hahn from the Verdi list of willingness to negotiate. In view of the fact that the works council is fragmented, at least three lists must come together in order to achieve a majority.

Works council chief Merx, who is going back to software development, would like a different model. “In fact, you always have to look for majorities anyway – the distinction between government and opposition has never worked in recent years.” He advocates filling posts proportionally, i.e. according to the strength of the lists.

The employee representatives have a few weeks to think about it: the constitutive meeting of the new works council is on May 5th.

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