Pay strikes hit German firms

INDUSTRIAL workers in Germany staged strikes at metal and engineering companies yesterday in support of wage claims by the country’s biggest union, which announced a further wave of walkouts for today.

With the economy in robust health and unemployment at record lows, union IG Metall is demanding an inflation-busting 6% pay hike this year for about 3.9 million workers, as well as a shorter working week.

Ahead of regional negotiations due to begin on Thursday, employers have so far offered 2% plus a one-off ß200 (R2 974) payment in the first quarter.

Yesterday, dozens of walkouts began across the country in the morning, at firms like car industry titan Volkswagen and its subsidiary Porsche, train manufacturer Bombardier and huge elevator-maker Otis.

Night shift workers at automotive supplier Kirchhoff in the North Rhine-Westphalia also walked out, as did staff at farming machinery maker Claas, the union said.

“The employers provoked these warning strikes with their behaviour at the negotiating table,” IG Metall North Rhine-Westphalia head Knut Giesler said.

In the state, Germany’s most populous, IG Metall has called for stoppages today at 143 companies, including Lumileds, the LED components and car-lighting business, and Thyssenkrupp unit Rothe Erde in Dortmund.

Industrial action is also scheduled to the south in Bavaria, home to premium carmaker BMW and engineering group Siemens, where the union is threatening to shift from short warning strikes to full-day stoppages.

The dispute follows a strong year of growth in Europe’s largest economy, driven by domestic demand from record numbers of German workers, while borrowing costs and inflation remain low and exporters benefit from a global recovery.

That pattern should extend through this year, with the Ifo economic institute last month forecasting growth of 2.6% for the year.

Talks between unions and employers’ associations are set for Thursday in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where Volkswagen’s Porsche, Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler and automotive suppliers, including huge company Bosch, are based.

In Bavaria, talks will resume on Monday and in North Rhine-Westphalia on Thursday next week. – Reuters