German construction workers to strike for first time in 17 years

SOME construction workers in Germany are gearing up for strike action this week, the first time in 17 years they’ve walked off the job in a demand for better pay.

The IG Bau labour union called on members in the state of Lower Saxony to strike on Monday (May 13), after employers rejected a wage proposal by an independent arbitrator, a spokesperson said. Workers in selected sites in other states are set to join from tomorrow, and the union is keeping open the option of an extensive nationwide strike, it said.

“Employers had their chance, but unlike us, they didn’t agree to the arbitrator’s decision,” IG Bau said in a statement on its website.

The escalation threatens to delay major infrastructure projects as well as private home building, if it develops into prolonged industrial action. It follows a spate of strikes in the rail and airline industries that brought transport to a standstill in large parts of the country earlier in the year.

Arbitrator Rainer Schlegel ruled that construction workers should receive an additional 250 euros (S$365.12) a month, just half the union’s original demand of 500 euros more a month. Schlegel also prescribed pay increases of 4.15% in Western German states and just under 5% in eastern states after 11 months in a proposal on May 3, the union said.

A proposal by the industry’s main employer lobby group to voluntarily increase wages for the lowest-paid workers to 14 euros an hour falls short of the 14.38 euros an hour proposed by the arbitrator, it said.

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Germany’s construction industry employs about 930,000 people, according to IG Bau, which also represents the agriculture and forestry sectors. As of 2023, it had more than 200,000 members.

Any disruption to construction might come at an awkward time for Europe’s biggest economy, threatening to overshadow its recovery after a year of contraction. BLOOMBERG