IG Metall goes on strike

GERMANY: Members of IG Metall began strike action on Monday, May 6, in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg. The strike is a result of the collapse of collective wage talks on April 19 - with the employers' last wage offer at 3.3 per cent, and IG Metall demanding a minimum increase of 4 per cent. The union issued a strike ballot on April 25, which saw 90 per cent of its members in Baden-Württemberg and over 85 per cent in Berlin-Brandenburg endorse their call for industrial action, a result far exceeding the minimum 75 per cent approval rate required by IG Metall statutes. On May 2, the Executive Board of the 2.7 million-strong IMF German affiliate gave the final go-ahead for the strike to begin on May 6, and IG Metall's president, Klaus Zwickel, has announced that industrial action will expand to the region of Berlin-Brandenburg from the week of May 13 if a settlement is not reached with employers this week. The union is using a so-called "flexi" strike pattern, which involves as many workers and companies as possible in the region. The individual strike targets, chosen by IG Metall at short notice, are limited to one day at a time, with the daily work stoppages moving on to other companies on following days. Some companies may be hit more than once. Such a flexible tactic makes it more difficult for employers to carry out threats of a lockout. IG Metall's vice-president, Jürgen Peters, says that with one-day interruptions in production "we hit the companies in a neuralgic spot - the efficient flow of production." He warned the employers about arbitrarily locking out workers and said that the "strike is a citizen's right; the lockout is the misuse of power." Commenting on the situation, President Zwickel has stressed that "our interest is not in a long-term strike, but to reach a quick, acceptable collective wage agreement." Messages of solidarity with IG Metall's strike are beginning to pour in from IMF affiliates worldwide.