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Workers in Germany's engineering industry began a temporary warning strike on Sunday, as part of a wage dispute involving about 3.7 million employees, whose union is demanding a 5% wage increase, at a time when companies are facing a worsening crisis, especially in the automotive sector.
The "IG Metall" union said that about 300 employees at the Rasselstein unit of "Thyssenkrupp," along with workers in neighboring companies, participated in the first strike that began at midnight.
The strike came after the union rejected an offer made by employers during the second round of wage negotiations, describing it as a "negative offer" and considering it a de facto wage cut.
The offer included a 1% increase in the total annual wage as a lump sum in the summer of 2027, followed by another 1.3% increase effective from July 2028.
The head of the union's central district, Jörg Köhlinger, said that the warning strike witnessed at "Thyssenkrupp-Rasselstein" at midnight is just the beginning of a large-scale phase of warning strikes.
The union is demanding a 5% wage increase over 12 months, according to union official and chairman of the company's works council, Marc Winter.
The union announced that other warning strikes will be organized over the coming days across the negotiation region, which includes the states of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, and Thuringia.
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