Thyssenkrupp facility in Duisburg [Photo by Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau / CC BY 2.0The IG Metall union has agreed to a cut in real wages for around 60,000 workers in the northwest German steel industry. Knut Giesler, lead negotiator and district leader of IG Metall North Rhine-Westphalia, claimed that “Project Responsibility for Steel” had almost failed. IG Metall has once again lowered steelworkers’ real wages to save the profits of the steel companies. The employers rejected the 2 percent demand, and particularly the preferential treatment of IG Metall members. IG Metall officials or full-time works council representatives—management’s henchmen—have no place in them, and they must be excluded.