Frankfurt am Main – IG Metall has stepped up the pressure in the collective bargaining dispute in the metal and electrical industries. By noon (2:00 p.m.), over 45,000 workers from around 300 companies had participated in last-minute walkouts, rallies, and early-closing actions, IG Metall announced Thursday in Frankfurt. Further actions are also planned for the afternoon and evening. Since the start of the warning strikes, nearly 700,000 metalworkers from 3,100 companies have demonstrated in support of their demands for a 5.5 percent wage increase as well as provisions for age-based and education-related part-time work.
Today’s warning strike actions were concentrated in the IG Metall “Küste” district. Over 21,000 warning strikers from 120 companies took part in the statewide “Küste” day of action. In Bremen, 5,700 employees from 20 companies gathered for a rally. In Bremerhaven, 500 warning strikers from nine companies emphasized their demands. In northwestern Lower Saxony as well, 7,200 workers from 31 companies took part in warning strike actions and rallies. Among them were employees of Meyer Werft and KS Kolbenschmidt in Papenburg, as well as Linde and Wiemann in Emden. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein as well, nearly 8,000 warning strikers from over 60 companies walked off the job on short notice. In Kiel, 1,000 workers—including those from Blohm Voss, Caterpillar Motoren, Danfoss PS, GKN, Heidelberger Druck, Rheinmetall, Siemens, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, and Vossloh—gathered for a rally.
In Baden-Württemberg, approximately 12,000 workers from about 70 companies demonstrated in support of their demands. In Mannheim, 4,000 warning strikers from 20 companies gathered for a rally. In Bruchsal, 450 employees from E.G.O., Blanco, and Blanco Prof, as well as 120 employees from Sulzer, walked off the job on short notice. In Upper Swabia, 500 warning strikers from eleven companies took part in a rally in Ravensburg. At the Mahle site in Stuttgart, 800 employees of the automotive supplier demonstrated as part of a nationwide day of action.
In the IG Metall Central District, over 4,000 workers from 25 companies took part in warning strikes. In Kassel, over 3,000 workers from 22 plants demonstrated at a rally. In Frankfurt, 850 workers voiced their demands in front of the Hessenmetall headquarters. At the Mahle plant in Wölfersheim, 200 workers walked off the job at short notice by noon.
In Bavaria, over 3,000 workers from 19 companies voiced their demands. In Franconia, warning strikers from Bosch Siemens Home Appliances, Robert Bosch GmbH, Electrolux, Getrag, Gutmann AG, Kraus Maffei Technologies, Leoni Draht, and Linde took part in the actions.
In the IG Metall district of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, around 2,500 workers from 26 companies went on strike at short notice. In Osterode/Harz, more than 1,200 workers from 11 companies took part in a rally. In Hildesheim, more than 1,100 warning strikers from 11 companies—including Aerzener Maschinenfabrik, Robert Bosch, Delphi, Alcoa, and KSM Castings—gathered for a rally.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, 2,000 workers from 24 plants took part in warning strikes. In Cologne, around 1,600 workers gathered for a rally.
In the IG Metall Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony district, 700 workers from eight companies participated in short-notice walkouts and rallies.
