German industry workers call strike starting Saturday

The mighty German union IG Metall called this Friday to strike the important sector of the metallurgy and electrical industry, which represents 3.8 million employees, to support their demand for an 8% increase in wages in the face of inflation.

“Warning strikes” will be organized from “Saturday”, five of the union’s seven regional sections, including the particularly powerful North Rhine-Westphalia section in the west of the country, said.

These coordinated work stoppages, which have a limited duration, are usually part of the wage negotiations in Germany.

How long the mobilization will last has not yet been announced, but negotiations are scheduled to resume on November 10.

For several weeks, representatives of employers and employees in this sector have been negotiating to reach an agreement on wages, but the talks have yielded no results, IG Metal reported.

The union asks for an increase of 8% that the companies refuse to grant. This sector is strategic for the economy and includes 26,000 companies in the automotive, electronics and machinery sectors.

The workers’ representatives justify their claims by the “sharp rise in prices” at a time when inflation exceeds 10 percent.

The companies’ proposal is to deliver a single premium of 3,000 euros (practically the same figure in dollars) that is valid for 30 months.

The 3,000 euros can help people, but with the current price developments, it will run out quickly,” said Knut Giesler, a negotiator for IG Metall NRW, the union’s biggest branch.

For its part, the business association Gesamtmetall considers that the union is “blind to the reality of the industry”, burdened by the energy crisisaccording to its president Stefan Wolf.