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IG Metall is demanding more pay for employees in the metal and electrical industries. 300 employees went on strike on Wednesday morning.
Nine hours after the peace obligation between the collective bargaining parties expired, IG Metall in Lüdenscheid called for the first warning strikes on Wednesday. The demand: 7 percent more pay. 150 employees each from Kostal Kontaktsysteme in Timberg and Phoenix Feinbau in Wefelshohl were asked to temporarily stop working in the morning.
Around 50 employees gathered in front of the Kostal contact systems factory building on Timberg to mark the start of the industrial action. © Olaf Moos
IG Metall warning strikes: pay increase demanded
Although the response to the call fell well short of the union’s expectations, the speakers struck a combative tone at the start of the warning strikes. The first representative of IG Metall, Fabian Ferber, said, among other things, on Timberg to the applause of around 50 “Kostalians”: “We don’t want to cause more trouble than necessary. But we will not accept that we will be able to afford less next year than in previous years.”
The demand is clear: 7 percent more pay, 170 euros more training allowance. © Olaf Moos
The weakening economy needs a demand stimulus, Ferber continued. “In the coming year – unlike 2023 and 2024, each amounting to 1,500 euros net in the metal and electrical industry – no inflation compensation bonus can be paid out. Without a pay increase, employees would have less in their wallets next year than they will this year.”
The “promise of prosperity” to society is “long in danger,” explained the First Plenipotentiary. Small example: “Butter is still 1 euro more expensive than before the corona pandemic.” The attitude of the employers who have “so far offered two mini pay increases with a long term” is below the inflation rate.
The second representative Kevin Dewald spoke to the employees at Phoenix Feinbau © Olaf Moos
IG Metall is convinced that many of the problems in companies are “homemade”, as Fabian Ferber said. Nevertheless: “Kostal is a profitable company.” The Timberg business is growing, “so we deserve a big plus.”
The speaker also discussed the crisis at VW, where thousands of jobs are currently at risk and billions in fines are being paid because of the fraudulent software. “It wasn’t workers who decided that diesel was screwed up at the measuring stand – it was managers.” And: “The employers who are making cuts and laying off employees are the same ones who always talk about the shortage of skilled workers.”
IG Metall: rally in mid-November
The rallies at Timberg and in Wefelshohl, where the second IGM representative Kevin Dewald struck a similar tone, are only intended to be the start for the unionists. A major rally is planned for November 11th on the town hall square, in which all Kostal employees and employees from another 30 companies are expected to take part. Then the metallers hope for a better response. Employees will be picked up from their companies by bus. The 7 percent demand stands. Ferber: “We want to mobilize more than 1,000 people.” Overall, IG Metall in the Märkischer Kreis has around 22,000 members.