German metal, electric industries plan Tuesday strikes over wage row, union says

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BERLIN (Reuters) – Workers in Germany’s electrical engineering and metal industries will launch strikes on Tuesday to put pressure on employers to increase their pay, according to a statement from the IG Metall union.

Tuesday marks the end of a truce period accompanying collective bargaining negotiations, in which the union has said a proposed pay rise for the 3.9 million workers in key sectors covered by the talks is too low.

The 3.6% raise over a period of 27 months offered by employers’ associations is considerably lower than the 7% sought by IG Metall – a demand criticised by companies as unrealistic amid a general slowdown in German industry.

Germany has been skirting recession for months now. The government is under pressure to reform the economy to regain ground amid fierce competition from abroad, weak demand for exports and structural challenges in its legacy industries.

However, unions point to stubbornly high inflation and the need to attract much-needed skilled labour.

“Employees are now returning their constant price pressure at the checkout to the employers via warning strikes,” said IG Metall representative Nadine Boguslawski. “Wage restraint solves nothing, but only exacerbates the country’s problems.”