Construction workers initiate the first strike in 17 years.
On Monday, construction workers in Lower Saxony launched the first strike in 17 years, protesting wage negotiations in the industry. Nearly a thousand workers quit their jobs in the region, organized by the IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt trade union. About 300 attended the main rally in Osnabrück, while 150 showed up at a smaller protest in Langenhagen near Hanover.
The union plans to continue the strike on Tuesday and spread it to other regions across Germany. More selective actions are expected to take place throughout the country, according to IG BAU.
This dispute comes after the breakdown of wage arbitration in the construction industry with around 930,000 workers in early May. Following three failed rounds of negotiation, arbitrator Rainer Schlegel proposed a two-stage wage increase back on April 19. The first phase called for an immediate 250 euro increase, followed by a 4% hike eleven months later.
Although IG BAU accepted the initial proposal, employers' associations rejected it in May. Consequently, the union reverts to its initial demand of a 500 euro monthly pay raise.
The union explains the choice of Lower Saxony as the starting point due to the regional employers' determination to thwart the implementation of the conciliation agreement. The most recent strike in the construction sector was regional, taking place in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony in 2007. A nationwide strike, meanwhile, was last seen in 2002.
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The construction workers' decision to initiate a walkout in Lower Saxony marked the first strike in their industry for 17 years. Despite the threat of a nationwide strike, other regions in Germany have yet to join the action. The strike in Lower Saxony is seen as a response to the employers' rejection of the proposed 250 euro wage increase, which the union had initially accepted but then reversed to demanding a 500 euro monthly pay raise.
Source: www.ntv.de
