Riesa (dpa/sn) – Employees at Pasta Riesa from Saxony want to emphasize their demand for a wage increase at the company’s headquarters in Trochtelfingen in Baden-Württemberg. A trip to the Swabian Alb is planned for Thursday if no agreement is reached by then, said Olaf Klenke from the Food, Enjoyment and Restaurants Union (NGG) on Tuesday. The campaign has the motto “We’re moving over” and refers to a slogan that many GDR citizens used at the time to express their intention to move to the West.

“The trip is also a symbol for overcoming borders. The wage wall, which is still there 30 years after reunification, must finally be torn down. Whether at the pasta producers or elsewhere,” emphasized Klenke. The workers in Riesa stopped working the night shift on Monday evening, beginning the second week of the strike. Management could not be reached to inquire.

Around 150 people work for the pasta manufacturer in Riesa. The parent company Alb-Gold is based in Trochtelfingen (Reutlingen district). According to the NGG, wage negotiations are deadlocked. “So far, the company has stuck to its idea of ??increasing wages by EUR 1.20 an hour by the end of 2023. However, the employees and their NGG union are demanding an hourly wage increase of EUR 2 for this period.” This can also be done in two stages. Currently, many employees in Riesa have an hourly wage of just over 12 euros.