Frankfurt am Main – Full-day warning strikes began today across the country in the metal and electrical industries. Production came to a standstill at over 80 companies employing approximately 68,000 workers. In some cases, the walkouts began as early as Tuesday evening during the night shifts. “If you won’t move, you’ll have to be pushed.” In the latest negotiations, employers have been moving at a snail’s pace. Their offer of a total of 3.5 percent over 27 months in the pay scale—which, when annualized, doesn’t even cover the inflation rate—is unacceptable. But even the total increase of 6.8 percent amounts to just 3 percent per year and is completely unacceptable,” said Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Wednesday in Frankfurt. “Our goal remains to reach an agreement without widespread strikes. However, a solution can only be reached if employers improve their offers on all three issues: pay, the right to a temporary reduction in working hours, and the wage supplement for employees facing family or work-related stress.”
Strong Participation by Employees
Regarding the lawsuits filed today by the employers’ associations seeking injunctions and damages against the full-day warning strikes, Hofmann said: “With this, the regional associations are continuing to add fuel to the fire. But we will not be deterred by legal smokescreens. The strong turnout at today’s warning strikes makes that very clear. IG Metall remains interested in constructive solutions at the negotiating table. Our door remains open for further discussions.”
In Bavaria , IG Metall called for full-day warning strikes at seven plants. Fifteen thousand metalworkers took part. Production at MAN Truck & Bus in Munich has been halted since midnight. There, 7,000 employees walked off the job; at ZF in Passau, 3,800; and at MAN Bus & Truck in Nuremberg, 3,450.
In the Mitte district ( Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, and Thuringia), production was halted on Wednesday at 9 plants employing 15,000 workers. Full-day warning strikes took place, among other places, at Vacuumschmelze in Hanau, at ZF in Saarbrücken and Neunkirchen, and at Sell in Herborn. At ZF Saarbrücken, Wolfgang Lemb, an executive board member of IG Metall, spoke at a rally.
In North Rhine-Westphalia , full-day strikes took place at 30 plants employing 14,600 workers. In Dortmund, Ralf Kutzner, an executive board member of IG Metall, spoke at a rally in front of ThyssenKrupp Rothe Erde employees. Full-day warning strikes also took place at ThyssenKrupp Rothe Erde in Lippstadt, at KME Germany in Menden, at Mannesmann Precision Tubes in Hamm, and at Geberit Mapress in Langenfeld.
In Baden-Württemberg , full-day warning strikes took place at 21 plants, with more than 14,500 employees participating by 2:00 p.m., including 4,000 at ZF in Friedrichshafen and 3,500 at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen. In Esslingen, Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, addressed the workers at Index. In Stuttgart-Feuerbach, Irene Schulz, Executive Board Member of IG Metall, spoke to 800 warning strikers from Coperion.
In the IG Metall “Küste” district, more than 5,000 workers walked off the job at 10 companies. At the forklift manufacturer Still in Hamburg, 2,200 workers took part in the full-day warning strike. Production also came to a halt at numerous companies in northwestern Lower Saxony and in Schleswig-Holstein.
In the IG Metall Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony district, 1,700 workers participated in full-day warning strikes.
In the Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt district, just over 1,600 workers at several companies walked off the job for the entire day. Hans-Jürgen Urban, executive board member of IG Metall, addressed the workers at KSM Castings Group in Hildesheim.
