Frankfurt am Main – As of 2:00 p.m. today, approximately 55,000 workers from nearly 200 companies have gone on warning strikes as part of the collective bargaining dispute in the metal and electrical industries. This brings the total number of metalworkers nationwide who have participated in work stoppages, rallies, and early-closing actions since the warning strikes began just over two weeks ago to around 592,000. Further actions are planned for this afternoon and evening, IG Metall announced on Friday in Frankfurt.
The main focus was on Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. In Baden-Württemberg, around 21,000 metalworkers from 73 companies took part in warning strikes and rallies. A large rally in Neckarsulm drew 7,400 employees from Audi, Kolbenschmidt, and KS Huayu AluTech. By noon, around 3,000 employees had participated in Mahle’s company-wide day of action.
592,000 metalworkers in strike mode
Ithe Bavaria district, more than 20,000 workers from 49 plants heeded IG Metall’s call for warning strikes and early-shutdown actions. In Nuremberg, 8,200 workers from 25 plants—including MAN and the Nuremberg Siemens plants—had participated in warning strikes by noon. At BMW in Landshut, around 650 workers temporarily walked off the job. Warning strikes also took place in the Upper Palatinate, the Allgäu, and Aschaffenburg.
About 7,200 workers from 21 companies took part in warning strikes and actions in the Berlin-Brandenburg-Saxony district. In Berlin, workers drove through the city in a motorcade. In Zwickau, 4,400 workers from Volkswagen Saxony, Schnellecke, and other companies went on strike. IG Metall Executive Board member Wolfgang Lemb spoke at the rally that followed. In Görlitz, 7,000 workers gathered for a rally, at which Wolfgang Lemb also spoke. At Bombardier and Siemens in Görlitz, 2,300 workers went on strike for a limited time.
Further actions planned for the evening
In the Central District (Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, and Thuringia), approximately 3,000 metalworkers from about 20 plants briefly walked off the job. A key area in Hesse was the Herborn region, with 1,400 workers from seven companies participating in a warning strike. Other key areas were in Central and Northern Hesse. In Erfurt, 800 workers took part in an action accompanying the negotiations.
Nearly 3,200 workers from 23 companies went on strike in North Rhine-Westphalia and took part in rallies. In Gütersloh and Oelde, 1,200 workers from Gustav Wolf and Miele heeded the call for a warning strike; in Münster, 900 workers from five companies walked off the job.
In the Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt district, 600 workers demonstrated in front of the negotiation venue in Magdeburg.
