Unterwellenborn (dpa/th) – In the Thuringia steelworks, the IG Metall union began a 24-hour warning strike on Tuesday. She wants to underpin her demand for a reduction in working hours and more money for employees in the negotiations for a new company tariff. According to the union, around 100 employees were temporarily on strike by noon. It is a so-called interval strike, in which individual departments stop working every hour and a half. The union is demanding a reduction in weekly working hours from 38 to 35 hours and at least 200 euros more per month for the approximately 750 employees.
According to the union, the 35-hour working week already applies to the collective bargaining agreement in the steel industry. “We finally want alignment,” said Christoph Ellinghaus, first representative of IG Metall Jena-Saalfeld. Stahlwerk Thüringen belongs to the Brazilian CSN Group.
According to information on the steel mill’s website, the management offered the employees a one-off inflation compensation bonus of EUR 3,000 net. This corresponds to an eleven percent pay increase. She pointed out that the federal government’s third relief package to mitigate increased energy prices and high inflation provides for such a possibility.
A 2 percent increase in wages and salaries is being offered for 2023 and a 4 percent increase for 2024. “In the current situation, we believe that the demand for a reduction in working hours with full wage compensation cannot be met,” says the management. The third round of negotiations between the union and the employers recently ended without a result. According to IG Metall, another negotiation date is scheduled for November 29th.
