Membership in IG Metall declines

The number of registered members in Germany’s largest single labor union, IG Metall, is dropping according to dpa wire services. From June to July, the engineering and steel workers union counted a loss of 28,000 people. Although it still has some 2.6 million members, the IG Metall is struggling to retain its large membership. The numbers have been dwindling over the past several years as the importance of union membership and organized labor generally declines in the public, especially in the eyes of younger workers. But after June’s failed strike for a shorter working week in eastern Germany and the ensuing leadership crisis, IG Metall has suffered a major blow to its image as Germany’s leading union.