Neuss (dpa / lnw) – Before the second round of collective bargaining for employees in the metal and electrical industry in NRW, IG Metall indirectly threatened warning strikes from November. He expects an offer from the employers – “the time game is over, you have to name a number now,” the “Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung” (Wednesday) quoted the IG Metall negotiator Knut Giesler as saying. If that doesn’t work, it will be “difficult to find a solution before the end of the peace obligation at the end of October.”
The second round is planned for this Friday in Neuss, after which the two-week autumn break will begin. “We are already preparing as best we can for possible industrial action from November,” Giesler told the WAZ.
At the same time, the North Rhine-Westphalia boss of IG Metall emphasized that the collective bargaining partners could not absorb the entire inflation of currently around eight percent, and that the state had to curb the enormously high energy prices. IG Metall and employers began their wage negotiations in Gelsenkirchen on September 16th.
Employers had criticized that IG Metall’s demand seemed “out of date”. The industry is in the midst of a dramatic energy crisis. Around 700,000 people are employed in the sector in NRW. The union is demanding eight percent more wages for a period of twelve months.
