Millions of industrial employees across Germany initiated temporary warning strikes following the breakdown of wage negotiations, setting up a high-stakes labor dispute between a workforce seeking higher pay and employers grappling with a deepening downturn in the automotive sector.
The initial walkout commenced at midnight as roughly 300 employees from the Rasselstein unit of industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp AG, alongside personnel from neighboring facilities, downed tools, according to statements from the IG Metall union. The union rejected an employer counterproposal delivered during the second round of wage talks, dismissing the offer as a real-terms pay cut.
Under the rejected proposal, employers put forward a one-off payment equivalent to 1% of annual gross pay scheduled for the summer of 2027, followed by an additional 1.3% wage increase taking effect in July 2028.
In contrast, IG Metall is pressing for a 5% wage increase across a 12-month period to protect living standards for the 3.7 million workers represented in the sector, according to Marc Winter, a union official and works council head at Thyssenkrupp Rasselstein.
“The midnight warning strike at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein is merely the start of a massive phase of warning strikes,” said Jörg Köhlinger, head of IG Metall’s central district.
Union leadership confirmed that additional walkouts are scheduled to roll out across the bargaining region in the coming days. The industrial action encompasses the federal states of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland, as well as Thuringia.
