IG Metall Fears Trainee Job Pact Ineffective

Germany's metal workers' union IG Metall said on Wednesday that despite the trainee job pact signed between the government and industry leaders earlier this month, the situation in the country was "miserable." Erwin Vitt, a member of IG Metall's supervisory board, said "the trainee job pact has so far changed nothing about the precarious trainee situation." He was reacting to June labor market figures that showed that traineeships registered at job centers had fallen by 24,400 as compared to the same time last year. Vitt blamed the government and industry leaders for forgoing a controversial legislation that would have forced companies that didn't hire enough trainees to pay a fine into a nationwide traineeship fund. Instead, the two sides opted for a voluntary commitment by German industry to step up the number of traineeships for young people over the next three years.