With its planned wage demand in the large area of ​​the metal and electrical industry - target corridor 7 to 8 percent - the IG Metall remains just below the current inflation rate.

And it remains just below the 8.2 percent that it had demanded in the steel industry, which was benefiting from an exceptional boom.

In this respect one can say: in times of shrinking scope for distribution, it is so reasonable that it does not set the absolute goal of securing purchasing power for job holders.

If it did, it would also be an open departure from the social partnership.

After all, putting inflation adjustment above all else despite falling overall economic prosperity would be the old battle cry from the time of the bank bailouts: "We're not paying for your crisis" - after all, employers, transfer recipients and employees in other sectors should bear the burden of Putin's war against Ukraine Shoulders.

It is clear that this reduces the scope for distribution: foreign suppliers of energy and raw materials are now claiming a larger piece of the pie for themselves.

But even if IG Metall avoids such steep lines of argument and keeps open access to social partnership compensation: A constructive collective bargaining round with the aim of securing the industrial location will be difficult enough.

Wage agreements below the rate of inflation reduce the risk of wages themselves becoming a driver of inflation.

But what is easily forgotten in the debates about wage-price spirals: It also depends on what additional costs the individual companies can cope with.

The central benchmark for this is not inflation, but the progress in productivity, which is well below the current inflation rates.

One thing is clear: the more collective agreements deviate upwards from this, the less reason there is to relieve employees who are entitled to them through government aid packages at the expense of the general public.

Even before the metal wage round, Chancellor Scholz wants to hold a "concerted action" with the social partners, which will also deal with this.

It will be very interesting to see how Scholz will react to this.