GERMANY – Berlin-based Metall-Rente, the newly-formed sector-wide occupational pensions scheme company for the German electronics, steel and textiles industries has confirmed that the country’s 300,000 timber and plastics industries workers have also joined the scheme, bringing the total number of potential members to 3.9 million.

A spokesperson for IG-Metall, the German metal and electronics industries trade union that set up Metall-Rente in conjunction with their employers’ association Gesamtmetall, says that Metall-Rente is particularly attractive to the timber industry which is dominated by medium size companies that typically do not offer occupational pensions.

“In addition to offering supplementary insurance and pension plans to those already covered by company Pensionskassen, Metall-Rente is also keen to offer first time and main schemes to workers in small and medium sized companies that don’t currently offer any occupational schemes,” he says.

The move follows the addition late last year of the steel and textiles industries to Metall-Rente and the spokesman confirms that the pension fund company is open to any industry wanting to join. “We are not talking to any other industries at the moment but Metall-Rente is not restricted to the metal industry workers, even though it was conceived initially and primarily in their interests. Metall-Rente is in effect open to any industry that might want to use it as a means of offering its workers primary or supplementary retirement provision.”






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