Christiane Benner Explained

Christiane Benner (born February 9, 1968, in Aachen) is a German sociologist and trade union official. In 2023, she became the first woman to hold the post of First Chairwoman of Europe's largest industrial union, IG Metall (the German metalworkers union). After being elected to the union leadership in 2015, she is the first woman to do so in the union's 125-year history.^[1]

Early life and education

Benner was born in the west German town of Aachen and raised by a single mother.^[2] After completing her secondary education in Bensheim in 1987, she trained as a foreign language secretary at Carl Schenck AG (part of the Dürr Group since 2000), where she remained until 1993.

Benner then studied sociology at Philipps University in Marburg and at the University of Chicago in North Manchester, Indiana, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree.^[3] She completed her studies at the University of Frankfurt with a diploma. Her studies were financially supported by the Hans Böckler Foundation (trade union affiliated foundation).^[4]

Career

Having worked for IG Metall in various functions since 1997, Benner was elected as its vice chair on October 20, 2015, with 91.9 percent of the vote; she worked with the trade union's first chairman Jörg Hofmann.^[5] In this capacity, she became the first woman to lead the world's largest stand-alone trade union after 125 years of its existence. The Tagesspiegel reported on her election under the headline "IG Metall dares the revolution".^[6]

In 2022, Benner was appointed by Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport Volker Wissing to the German government’s advisory board on its digitization strategy.^[7]

On October 23, 2023, Benner was elected First Chairwoman of IG Metall.^{[8] [9]}

Other activities

Corporate boards

• Continental, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2018)^[10]
• BMW, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2014)^[11]
• Bosch, Member of the Supervisory Board (2013–2017)^[12]

Non-profit organizations

• Cradle to Cradle, Member of the Advisory Board^[13]

Personal

Benner is married and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.^[14]

Public positions

Benner warned Elon Musk not to avoid unionisation of Tesla company.^[15]

Benner views the far right wing party^[16] AFD as a risk for the German economy.^[17]

References

1. Web site: 2023-10-23. Redaktion IG Metall. de. IG Metall-Gewerkschaftstag wählt neues Führungsteam..
2. Patricia Nilsson (October 27 2023), German union boss takes the helm: ‘not everything will stay the same’ Financial Times.
3. Web site: 2020-07-25. Redaktion IG Metall. de. IG Metall Vorstand: Christiane Benner, Zweite Vorsitzende.
4. Web site: 2023-10-20. Hans-Böckler-Stiftung. "Eine große Ehre". Magazin Mitbestimmung.
5. Erik Kirschbaum (8 June 2015), Moderate head of powerful German union steps down unexpectedly Reuters.
6. Web site: 2023-10-23. Alfred Frese. 2015-10-20. de. Vorstandswahlen bei der Gewerkschaft : IG Metall wagt die Revolution. tagesspiegel.de.
7. https://bmdv.bund.de/SharedDocs/DE/Pressemitteilungen/2022/089-wissing-digitalstrategie.html BMDV setzt „Beirat Digitalstrategie Deutschland“ ein, um Monitoring zu stärken
8. Web site: 2023-10-23. 2023-10-23. Christiane Benner zur ersten Frau an der Spitze der IG Metall gewählt. Spiegel Online.
9. Ilona Wissenbach (23 October 2023), Germany's largest trade union votes in first female chair Reuters.
10. Web site: 2020-07-25. de. Aufsichtsrat der Continental AG.
11. Web site: Christiane Benner ist neue Chefin der IG Metall – Bei BMW und Continental im Aufsichtsrat . 2023-11-10 . Pnp.de . de.
12. https://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.bosch-kuenftig-vier-frauen-im-aufsichtsrat.2f854372-0f28-464b-94b5-18e3f6b8b9e5.html Bosch: Künftig vier Frauen im Aufsichtsrat
13. https://c2c.ngo/en/board-advisory-board/ Advisory Board
14. Web site: 2020-07-25. Redaktion IG Metall. de. IG Metall Vorstand: Christiane Benner, Zweite Vorsitzende.
15. News: 2023-10-21 . First Woman to Lead Germany's Biggest Union Takes Aim at Tesla . en . Bloomberg.com . 2023-10-25.
16. Web site: 2023-10-04 . Germany's far-right 'firewall' cracks . 2023-10-25 . POLITICO . en.
17. Web site: Timothy . Benner wants to fight against the rise of the AfD . 2023-10-25 . newsunrolled.com . en-US.