All-day warning strikes have started in the northwest German steel industry. IG Metall called for strikes after the failure of the most recent round of negotiations.
After the failure of the fourth round of collective bargaining for around 68,000 employees in the northwest German steel industry, new warning strikes have started. IG Metall had called for the 24-hour work stoppage. The union said there has been a strike at Thyssenkrupp in Finnentrop since 4:30 a.m. “Then other companies will follow across the board.”
“Steps towards a solution model”
On Tuesday night, the IG Metall district leadership in North Rhine-Westphalia said that the negotiations had ended without results after ten hours. “After both sides took steps towards a solution model in many areas regarding the issue of working time, the attempt to reach an agreement failed, especially on the question of wage increases,” explained the district manager of IG Metall NRW, Knut Giesler.
The employers had offered a one-off payment of 1,000 euros for January 2024 and a 3.5 percent increase in wages from July 2024 with a total term of 19 months. “This offer is so far from a possible final result that we have decided to end the negotiation,” said Giesler.
Next round of negotiations on Friday
The union is demanding 8.5 percent more wages for twelve months and went into the negotiations demanding a 32-hour week with full wage compensation. The Stahl employers’ association described the wage demand as irresponsible: “The attitude of IG Metall to measure financial offers from employers exclusively against their own exaggerated expectations and not against the financial possibilities of the company in the face of an impending economic crisis is completely irresponsible,” said the general manager of the employers’ association, Gerhard Erdmann.
The next round of negotiations was scheduled for Friday in Düsseldorf. IG Metall North Rhine-Westphalia conducts collective bargaining for the steel and iron industries in the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen and Lower Saxony. At the beginning of December, the first warning strikes took place in view of the stalled negotiations.
Warning strikes in the East German steel industry
Warning strikes have also been announced for the East German steel industry. “Employers are not showing any willingness to increase wages appropriately and noticeably reduce working hours,” said IG Metall negotiator for the Eastern steel industry, Dirk Schulze. The union canceled the round of negotiations in the Eastern steel industry planned for Tuesday. Negotiations will continue here on December 18th.