He takes over this office from Ingolf Pr\u00fcfer, who had been a member of the Executive Board of S\u00fcdwestmetall for 15 years and had served as chairman for about two and a half years.<\/p>\n
![\"Ingolf](\"https:\/\/caterpillar-energy-solutions.de\/files\/upload\/image\/7368_45_Wahl_SWE_03.jpg\" "\\"Ingolf")
More Flexibility in the Metal and Electrical Industry<\/h3>\n
Following his election, K\u00f6rner expressed his intentions to promote the modernization of the collective labor agreements in the metal and electrical industry. For example, he believes that the provision of the collective labor agreement that no more than 18 percent of the workforce are permitted to have 40-hour contracts needs to be revised. He holds that this provision is a relic from the days of mass unemployment, when the available employment volume was to be distributed to more people. “By contrast, we currently have a shortage of specialists and almost full employment”, explains K\u00f6rner. “Therefore, we need to give companies the flexibility to let more employees work more than 35 hours a week.” The newly elected chairman confirmed that he would approach IG Metall and the employee representatives in the companies on these issues in a consensus-oriented manner.
Peter K\u00f6rner joined the company in 2009. In 2013, he was appointed Head of Human Resources. Since November 2015, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Caterpillar Energy Solutions.<\/p>\n
About S\u00fcdwestmetall<\/h3>\n
The Rhine-Neckar district group is one of 13 regional subdivisions of the employer association S\u00fcdwestmetall and is one of the association’s largest supervising units in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg. In its area, which covers the Rhine-Neckar region, more than 40,000 people are employed at member companies of the metal and electrical industry.<\/p>\n