GERMANY: Daimler workers stage brief strike in Germany

Record ID: 341345

  • Title: GERMANY: Daimler workers stage brief strike in Germany
  • Date: 1st March 2006
  • Summary: (BN10) SINDELFINGEN, GERMANY (MARCH 1, 2006) (REUTERS) NIGHT SHOT OF DAIMLER CHRYSLER SIGN OUTSIDE SINDELFINGEN PLANT NEAR STUTTGART
  • Embargoed: 16th March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVAEYAQ8IET7RZEXNC6WAE7KX6R5
  • Story Text: Workers at car maker DaimlerChrysler in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg stopped work overnight in support of claims for a five percent pay increase, engineering union IG Metall said on Wednesday (March 1) .
    Some 2,400 DaimlerChrysler AG workers downed tools after midnight and another 1,500 workers are expected to stop work at auto parts supplier Robert Bosch on Wednesday. Further stoppages at other firms are planned in coming days, the union said.
    Brief stoppages or warning strikes are a time-honoured tactic in German labour disputes.
    The latest action comes as IG Metall steps up its claim for a five percent pay increase and paid breaks for certain categories of production staff which employers want to scrap.
    DaimlerChrysler worker Gerlinde Barlinger told Reuters Television "for us workers on the conveyor belt it's unacceptable if we don't get a break anymore after two hours."
    "Already, the speed has been increased and the number of workers decreased -- that's just not on. It affects our health and the people working here," Barlinger said.
    The union says surging profits at many German companies justify its claim, while employers say a five percent pay rise would force many firms to move jobs outside Germany.
    The stoppages coincide with a separate standoff between services union Verdi and public sector employers which has left piles of uncollected garbage in some areas and forced many kindergartens and other public facilities to close temporarily.
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