Press Release No. 18/2015 IG Metall: About 12,000 workers take part in a warning strike on Ash Wednesday

Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall has continued its warning strikes in the collective bargaining dispute in the metal and electrical industries. As of noon (2:00 p.m.), approximately 12,000 workers from 75 companies had participated in walkouts, rallies, and early-closing actions, IG Metall announced on Wednesday in Frankfurt. Further actions are planned for the afternoon and evening. Since the start of the warning strikes, nearly 640,000 metalworkers from just under 2,800 companies nationwide have demonstrated in support of their demands for a 5.5 percent wage increase as well as provisions for part-time work related to retirement and education.

Today’s warning strikes were concentrated in the IG Metall district of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. There, 5,900 workers from 56 companies walked off the job on short notice. In Osnabrück, 2,500 warning strikers from 13 companies went on strike and gathered for a rally in front of the main train station. In Göttingen, over 1,500 workers from 15 companies took part in warning strike actions. In Hamelin, nearly 700 workers from 14 companies participated in a rally. At the start of the third round of negotiations for the metal and electrical industry in Saxony-Anhalt, 1,000 workers from eight companies demonstrated in front of the negotiation venue in Magdeburg.

In the IG Metall Central District, over 4,000 warning strikers from twelve companies underscored their demands with various actions. In Rhineland-Palatinate, at least 3,400 workers from several companies gathered for a rally at the Wörth Festhalle. In North Hesse, 300 metalworkers from three companies walked off the job on short notice. In Thuringia, nearly 400 workers from four plants demonstrated in support of their demands.

In Baden-Württemberg, over 1,500 warning strikers at seven plants walked off the job on short notice. In Esslingen, Deizisau, and Reichenbach, a total of 1,000 workers from Index and Traub went home early. In Neckarsulm, 250 workers from Kolbenschmidt, ATAG, and MSI gathered for a rally.