Frankfurt am Main – Nationwide full-day warning strikes continued today in the metal and electrical industries. Production came to a standstill at around 100 companies employing approximately 125,000 workers. In some cases, the first walkouts began as early as Wednesday evening at the start of the night shift.
“The impressive turnout of workers in the full-day warning strikes shows that, even in this excellent economic situation, employees will not settle for crumbs. Employers must significantly improve their offer—in terms of pay, the right to a temporary reduction in working hours, and subsidies for child care, elder care, or shift work. Only then will a return to the negotiating table be possible,” said Christiane Benner, Second Chair of IG Metall, on Thursday in Frankfurt.
Employers Have Failed with Distraction Tactics
Regarding the lawsuits filed by employers, Benner said: “So far, employers have failed with their legal diversionary tactics. In two summary proceedings already, labor courts have rejected the motion to ban our full-day warning strikes. Collective bargaining belongs at the negotiating table, not in court.”
In Baden-Württemberg , full-day warning strikes took place at 23 companies with 30,000 employees. The focus was on automotive suppliers. Strikes were held at Bosch and Automotive Lightning in Reutlingen, Mahle in Markgröningen, and Getrag Magna Powertrain in Rosenberg.
In North Rhine-Westphalia , production came to a halt at 22 plants with approximately 28,000 employees. Statewide, the focus was on the automotive and supplier industries. Among the plants affected by the strikes was Ford in Cologne, which employs around 17,000 people.
In Bavaria , production lines came to a standstill today at 18 plants with 23,000 employees. Plants operated by Bosch Rexroth, Mahle Behr, Schaeffler, and Federal Mogul, among others, participated in the all-day warning strikes. In Augsburg, Jürgen Kerner, executive board member of IG Metall, addressed the employees at Renk.
In the IG Metall “Küste” district, more than 16,000 employees brought production to a halt at 6 plants. At Daimler in Bremen, 12,000 employees walked off the job, and at Mercedes-Benz in Hamburg, 2,200 employees did the same.
In the Mitte district ( Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, and Thuringia), production came to a halt at 18 plants with 16,000 employees. Among the plants affected by the strike were Ford in Saarlouis, Schaeffler in Homburg, and ThyssenKrupp Rasselstein in Andernach.
In the IG Metall Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony district, production came to a halt at several plants with about 7,000 employees. In Brandenburg, Hans-Jürgen Urban, executive board member of IG Metall, addressed the employees at ZF Brandenburg.
In the Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt district, nearly 5,000 workers at 7 plants walked off the job. The largest plant affected by the strike was VW Osnabrück, with around 2,800 employees. There, Christiane Benner, Second Chair of IG Metall, addressed the workers participating in the warning strike.
