Frankfurt/Main (dpa) – The world’s largest independent single union, Germany’s IG Metall, will be led by a woman for the first time. Christiane Benner, who to date has been the union’s deputy chair, has been voted chair of the organisation for a four-year term. At the trade union conference in Frankfurt am Main, the 55-year-old sociologist received 96.4 percent of the delegates’ votes. After two terms in office, Benner’s predecessor Jörg Hofmann did not run for re-election due to his age.
In the 132 or so years of its history, the IG Metall and its predecessor organisations have always had male leaders. “Our industry must be developed further, not wound down,” Benner had said in her candidacy speech. She plans to take more of a team approach to leading IG Metall and to make the needs of employees more visible.
German industry finds itself in a process of transformation. By 2045, Germany is to be transformed into a climate-neutral industrialised nation. Following her election, Benner said: “Our goal is to keep industrial value adding in Germany.” She stressed in this context that the green transformation offers many business opportunities.
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