Collective bargaining conflict: metal workers' warning strikes are gaining momentum

Frankfurt/Main. The first round of warning strikes in the current collective bargaining dispute has begun in the German metal and electrical industry. This concerns the salaries of around 3.7 million employees in Germany's largest industrial sector.

Immediately after the peace obligation expired on Sunday night, employees in the first companies stopped work, including the night shift at the tinplate manufacturer Thyssenkrupp Rasselstein in Andernach (Rhineland-Palatinate), employees at the mobile phone supplier RF 360 Europe/Qualcomm in Munich, at the aluminum casting company KSM Castings in Hildesheim and at the Speira recycling and rolling mill in Hamburg. In North Rhine-Westphalia there should be a first action in Bielefeld on Sunday evening.

IG Metall wants to expand the protests throughout Germany this week. This should increase the pressure in collective bargaining. Important industries such as car manufacturing, mechanical engineering, electronics and metal production are affected by the temporary strikes.

The union has demanded 5 percent more money over a period of twelve months as well as securing jobs and locations. In the second round of negotiations, the employers submitted an offer that provided for a one-off payment next year and a step increase of 1.3 percent in July 2028. The reason for the offer below inflation was the difficult economic situation and the high cost burden for industry in Germany.

The union leader Christiane Benner had announced “strong warning strikes” because the “so-called offer” had only caused “incomprehension and anger” in the companies. It's about securing purchasing power and a future for everyone at the location.

"The employers see the employees as pure cost factors. The 'minus offer' has increased the anger among the workforce. The midnight warning strike at Thyssenkrupp Rasselstein is just the start of a massive warning strike phase," explained the chairman of the IG Metall district in the middle, Jörg Köhlinger, to strikers in Andernach.