According to the trading weekly Wirtschaftswoche, IG Metall collects €460 million annually from its members and has assets estimated at €2 billion, which it increasingly invests in company shares.
Some 1,700 IG Metall representatives sit on company supervisory boards, where they merge with management. The organisation consists in the approximately 50,000 works council members and 80,000 shop stewards in the companies. Wage cuts and job eliminations are often prepared directly in the union headquarters.
In recent years, IG Metall has worked closely with the Opel management executive to cut wages and dismantle thousands of jobs. In December of last year, General Motors finally announced the end of car production at its Bochum plant in 2016, after IG Metall and the works council had repeatedly agreed to accept job losses and wage cuts.
Workers are increasingly comprehending the role played by the union, and opposition is mounting. Employees of the Bochum factory are considering turning their backs on IG Metall and organising mass resignations from the union.
Huber is the chairman of IG Metall and also deputy chair of the supervisory boards at Siemens, Audi and VW, as well as a board member at Porsche. The four companies have a combined market capitalisation of €158 billion. Huber celebrated his 60th birthday in Angela Merkel’s chancellery.