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Socialist Review Index (1993–1996) | Socialist Review 185 Contents
From Socialist Review, No. 185, April 1995.
Copyright © Socialist Review.
Copied with thanks from the Socialist Review Archive.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
‘Profits are up yet we’ve had a wage freeze for two years. We have no alternative but to strike.’ That’s how one picket in the southern German state of Bavaria summed up the mood among workers in Germany’s engineering industry. After 11 days of action in 33 Bavarian factories the giant IG Metall union (with 3.5 million members in engineering) won an effective 5 percent wage increase without strings.
The engineering employers’ federation, Gesamtmetall, had made no wage offer at the beginning of the strike and had refused to negotiate unless the union accepted discussion of other attacks on wages and conditions, including cuts in holiday pay and Christmas bonuses, flexible working, and refusing to implement the 35 hour week.
The IG Metall leadership originally demanded a 6 percent rise but made it clear from the beginning that it was prepared to settle for less. The strike vote was 88 percent of all members eligible to vote. This year German workers have to pay a special 7.5 percent tax to finance restructuring in the former East Germany. There have been cuts in real wages in the last two years. Engineering workers needed at least 6 percent to maintain living standards.
Hundreds of thousands took part in warning strikes and rallies in cities across Germany. With many order books full there is no question that workers could have won far more if the leadership had mobilised the full power of the union rather than restricting the action to 25,000 workers in smaller enterprises.
Nevertheless the result is a victory. It was the first engineering strike in western Germany since 1984 and the first in Bavaria since 1954. The union recruited 4,000 new members in Bavaria in the course of the strike.
The bosses’ hard line collapsed in the second week as they rushed to negotiate, and the deal in engineering has set a benchmark for other groups of workers. The bank workers’ union and the public sector union have both upped their wage demands. Workers in the chemical and insurance industries unexpectedly won wage rises above inflation. Above all, many workers have seen that striking brings results.
The deal also threatens to provoke further splits among the employers. Large employers like BMW and Siemens can absorb some of the estimated 5 percent increase in labour costs; most smaller employers cannot.
Medium and small employers account for two thirds of all employment in the engineering industry. One economist at the IDW institute predicted that medium sized employers would ‘go berserk’ at the settlement. Employers in the state of North Rhine Westphalia threatened not to ratify the deal, in effect breaking from national collective bargaining. Klaus Gottscholl, the chairman of Gesamtmetall, openly criticised the employers’ tactics in the negotiations.
Already last year some employers were questioning the value of having a federation and centralised bargaining which is legally enforceable. It is too early to say that the elaborate system of bargaining in German industry will break down in the near future, but the pressure for bosses to go on the offensive is increasing. Higher taxes are also pushing workers to fight for higher pay irrespective of productivity gains.
The government is openly talking about the prospect of a further downturn in the economy. Employers are talking up competition from south east Asia as the higher deutschmark threatens German export competitiveness. As the crisis hits home, the consensus and industrial peace which have characterised Europe’s largest economy is beginning to turn into class war.
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