17.06.2002

Germany hit by construction strikes

Germany’s first national construction workers strike since 1949 started today. The IG Bau union is targetting specific areas of the country.

Germany’s powereful national construction industry has followed the engineering union, IG Metall, by calling its members out on a series of strikes that target areas around Germany. It is the first time that IG Bau has called for national action since 1949.

A poll of IG Bau’s members showed an astonishing 98 per cent were in favour of strike action. At stake is a 4.5 per cent pay claim and a demand that construction workers in the former East Germany receive equal pay with their colleagues in West Germany (at present they receive about 10 per cent less).

The series of IG Metall strikes was called off last month when employees and the union agreed to a pay increase of approximately 4 per cent.