German engineering workers launched their first pay strike in seven years on today, with walkouts at car factories in south-western Germany.
About 2,000 car workers left the night shift at a Mercedes Benz factory in Sindelfingen, east of Stuttgart, as part of stoppages led by the IG Metall engineering union.
The union is demanding a pay rise of at least 4 per cent. Negotiations broke down last month after IG Metall rejected an employer offer of 3.3 per cent plus one-off payments worth €190.
It plans to call out 50,000 workers in 21 plants in Baden-Württemberg, the south-western state chosen as the initial strike region.
Eighty factories in the state will be closed temporarily this week in lightning one-day strikes, targeting the automobile sector in particular.
Workers at carmakers Porsche, DaimlerChrysler and Audi also walked out on today. Mr Klaus Zwickel, head of IG Metall, told 600 striking workers at a Porsche factory near Stuttgart that the strike would go on until the employers presented "a significantly better offer".
Mr Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor, fearing the economic effects of a prolonged strike in an election year, yesterday called on the union and employers to return to the negotiating table.
Analysts expect the strike to last less than two weeks, with a final settlement between 3.6 and 4 per cent.
Financial Times Service