Sozialpartnerschaft unter Spannung: Das Framing der Corona-Krise in der Metall- und Elektroindustrie

This paper examines how the collective bargaining parties of the German metal and electrotechnical industry, Gesamtmetall and IG Metall, portrayed the Corona crisis in the public sphere. The empirical basis consists of press releases, guest contributions by the chairpersons and press interviews. The framing perspective adopted by this study promises to shed light on how the collective bargaining parties assess the agency of social partnership and what priorities they set. Social partnership is generally coming under increasing pressure even in the core areas of the German economic model. This is also reflected in our analysis: While at first glance there is a coalition of interests in the description of the crisis and the call for state aid to support the economy and provide employement security, a closer look reveals a strong imbalance. Not only is this common interest restricted to purely strategic cooperation on specific issues. What is more, the employer side insists on wage restraint and leaves unanswered the trade unionsʼ calls for joint assumption of social responsibility. Particularly against the backdrop of further effects of the pandemic on the labor market, this weakens the unionsʼ bargaining power and puts further pressure on the institutional pattern of social partnership.