Press Release No. 03/2018 IG Metall: 60,000 metalworkers on warning strike

Frankfurt am Main – Nearly 60,000 workers from 280 companies across Germany took part in warning strikes today as part of the collective bargaining dispute in the metal and electrical industries (as of 2:00 p.m.). Since the end of the peace obligation, a total of around 80,000 metalworkers have taken to the streets. In doing so, they have emphasized their collective bargaining demands and protested against the employers’ inadequate offer.

The focus of Tuesday’s warning strikes was in North Rhine-Westphalia, where approximately 32,000 workers from 140 companies briefly walked off the job. The largest action took place in Cologne, with more than 12,000 warning strikers from six companies.

Nearly 8,500 workers went on warning strike in the IG Metall Central District ( Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia, Saarland). The largest rally, with 2,500 participants, took place at ZF Friedrichshafen AG in Saarbrücken. In Offenbach, IG Metall Executive Board member Wolfgang Lemb addressed the warning strikers.

More than 6,500 workers in Baden-Württemberg went on a brief walkout. At ZF in Friedrichshafen, around 1,500 metalworkers participated in warning strikes and actions, as did approximately 1,500 at John Deere in Mannheim.

In the IG Metall Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony district, nearly 2,900 metalworkers from 21 plants heeded the union’s call for a warning strike. IG Metall Executive Board member Irene Schulz spoke at the joint rally on Nonnendammallee, which was attended by workers from BMW, Siemens, Osram, Ledvance, and BSH Home Appliances.

In Bavaria , 6,000 workers from 21 companies gathered outside their workplaces. The largest protest took place in Schweinfurt, with more than 4,000 participants from several companies, including Schaeffler, SKF, and Bosch Rexroth.

In the Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt district, some 3,000 employees from 29 companies protested , while in the Coastal district, 620 employees from nine companies took part.