DÜSSELDORF (AFP)–According to IG Metall, almost 1,700 employees in the northwest German steel industry followed its call and took part in the first warning strikes on Friday. They want to increase the pressure in the deadlocked collective negotiations. In addition to wage increases, IG Metall is calling for a 32-hour week with full wage compensation, but employers reject this as not feasible.
The warning strikes began at midnight at Salzgitter AG, where 400 employees took part, as IG Metall North Rhine-Westphalia announced. There were further actions during the night in Duisburg, Bremen, Finnentrop and Georgsmarienhütte. In the early morning and mid-morning, employees from Arcelormittal in Bottrop, DEW in Hagen, Thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel in Gelsenkirchen and Outokumpu Nirosta in Krefeld came together for warning strikes. Further warning strikes are to follow on Monday.
IG Metall North Rhine-Westphalia is currently conducting area collective bargaining for the steel and iron industries in the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen and Lower Saxony. According to the union, the collective agreements apply to around 68,000 employees. Negotiations are taking place separately for the East German steel industry. The peace obligation ended on Thursday.
There have already been two collective negotiations in the current round. The union is demanding 8.5 percent more wages over a period of twelve months and a 32-hour week with full wage compensation. In the first negotiation, the employers offered 3.1 percent more wages for a period of 15 months. The employers had already declared at the first collective bargaining agreement in mid-November that the demand for a 32-hour week could be “neither organized nor financed”. The next round of negotiations is on December 11th.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 01, 2023 08:53 ET (13:53 GMT)
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