The longest strike in the history of IG Metall

In Espenhain, Saxony, employees of a recycling company have been on strike for more than four months. According to IG Metall, this is the longest strike in Germany’s history. There is no end in sight.

Flames flare up in a rusty barrel in front of the factory gate. Wood has just been added. The sun is shining this Friday morning. Nevertheless, it is cool and a light wind blows up the strike banners. The employees of SRW metalfloat are standing around the fire barrel in bright yellow warning vests from IG Metall. It is their 122nd consecutive day of strike.

“We are striking for our rights, that we get a fair wage and, yes, that working is fun again,” says Ronny Wölk. The construction mechanic is a shift manager at SRW. They recycle metal scrap in a three-shift system. Nevertheless, most people here only receive an hourly wage of around 13.60 euros.

Ronny Wölk and his colleagues are therefore calling for a collective agreement, eight percent more wages and that the weekly working time be reduced to 38 hours. “You are dealing with dust pollution, with noise, with heat, with cold. Metals are sorted by hand,” explains strike leader Michael Heckler. “This is very hard, strenuous work for just a little more than minimum wage.”

IG Metall speaks of Refusal to talk

SRW is a subsidiary of “Scholz Recycling” from Baden-Württemberg. In 2016, the then struggling company was bought by Chiho-Tiande from China. In March last year, employees approached management with their demands. However, according to IG Metall, there were never any real negotiations. After a primary vote, 89.3 percent of union members at SRW voted for an indefinite strike. They have been standing in front of the factory gates since November 8th.

It is said that the Chinese company owner is silent. “We wrote to him several times. We tried several times through different channels and clearly signaled that we were interested in a solution,” says Hecker. IG Metall accuses the company of refusing to hold talks.

When asked, a spokesman appointed by the company said that there had been an offer that largely met the union’s demands. This was rejected. The company is willing to pay more wages. A 37.5-hour week with full compensation is “already a reality for 80 percent of employees.” The collective agreement will be rejected. But that is the core demand of the strikers.

Record strike and no end in sight

There has been a continuous strike for four months now. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The systems at SRW are therefore not completely at a standstill. Of the 196 employees, only around 90 are on strike, according to the company. There are strikebreakers, says Michael Hecker from IG Metall: “including colleagues who have fixed-term contracts.” The employer made the announcement right from the start: Anyone who took part in the strike would not have their contract extended. That is of course a means of pressure.

The strike in Espenhain is the longest strike in the history of IG Metall. In order to keep this up, there are strikes in shifts. Lists are displayed in a container next to the factory gate. “I wait until everyone has registered, then I see where most of them are,” says Ronny Wölk and scans the list for the coming week. “Where there are still a few people missing, I always make sure that I can get it set up.”

The strikes take place in four-hour shifts. The night shift runs from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. “It’s not that easy to keep going in wind and weather. Time also flies badly. But as I said: someone has to be there even at night.”

Thoughts of giving up?

The walls of the container are covered with statements of solidarity from other unions, newspaper clippings and photos. There is warm food, bread rolls, coffee and tea. Darts are being played in one of the back corners. However, most of this strike shift is sitting at one of the beer tables and warming up.

Indefinite strike – are some people thinking about giving up? “Yes, of course, it gets on your nerves at some point, I’ll say. But we have a goal and we want to achieve it,” says Carsten.

His colleague Heike, who is sitting a bench away, replies: “I’m not that low.” When there’s a low, “our joker” builds everyone up again, explains Jörg and grins over at the joker Andreas. “I don’t really cheer anyone up, just stupid sayings,” he says, causing everyone to laugh out loud.

The strike has made the community even closer, says Ronny Wölk, who sat down with a cup of coffee. “I mean: going in is definitely no longer an option.” When he says that, everyone joins in one by one: “No way. Absolutely not. We’ll go through with it!”

“What is our superpower? Solidarity!”

After a four-hour strike shift, Wölk goes home. In the car he says that it’s not just encouragement. A strike banner was cut up. A report was filed and the police are investigating. A destroyed sign was found today. It lies collapsed with splintered wooden scaffolding on the side of the road. “You can see how deliberately it was destroyed. So it couldn’t have been the wind,” says the 27-year-old as he drives past.

He lives just a few kilometers away from SRW. When he gets home, he checks job offers. Four months of strike also means four months of no pay. IG Metall pays strike pay, but this is 20 to 30 percent less than what he gets as a shift manager. He gets along well with it, but he can’t make “big leaps” with it.

He has a small son and attends the master school part-time, which he pays for out of his own pocket. “I also want to be able to offer my children something, so I have no choice but to look around and look for something new.”

He is not alone in thinking about quitting SRW and looking for something new. But it is also difficult for him. Like many of his colleagues, he has been with the company for years. He values ​​the proximity to his home and his family. And there is still hope that they will fight for a collective agreement.

In the last few weeks in particular, attention to their long-term strike has become greater. Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU), the Eastern Representative Carsten Schneider (SPD), Gregor Gysi (The Left) and numerous other people from federal and state politics visited the strikers in Espenhain. Everyone assured him of support.

But what options are there? Together with IG Metall, Ronny Wölk and his colleagues now want to increase the pressure. On Thursday they will go to Berlin to demonstrate in front of the Chinese embassy. Then their battle cry will also be heard there: “What is our superpower? Solidarity!”