"At the end of the month there is usually nothing left in the wallet", says dieter bock. The father of two from obervolkach has worked at bosch rexroth in volkach for 13 years. The 45-year-old is particularly hard hit every month by rising energy costs. For this reason, he took part in the IG metall warning strike in front of the factory gates in volkach on friday afternoon. "No pain, no gain, says bock and most of his colleagues think so. Almost 200 people demonstrated for a 5.5 percent increase in wages and a 60-euro increase in training allowances.
More than 30 companies from the bavarian metal and electrical industry took part in the warning strikes. More than 10,000 employees used placards, flags and whistles to express their displeasure at the employers’ restraint in the current round of collective bargaining.
In volkach, shortly before the strike began, there was only the smell of grilled sausages, which the hungry workers on the early shift gladly accepted after the end of the working day. Werner flierl of IGM wurzburg announced over loudspeakers: "we expect a new and better offer from the employers than the previous triple zero that the employers’ association has offered so far." the price increases of recent years have placed an increasing burden on workers’ households. The overall economy had grown strongly and companies had made profits of over 50 billion euros. Workers should also benefit from this plus.
Flierl called for a fair redistribution component. 5.5 percent wage increase only accounted for nine billion of the profits of the companies. "The increase of the remunerations for the coworkers is to be financed thus completely easily ?, he said. In recent years, real wages have fallen again and again. "Now is the time to give employees a share of the profits", flierl shouted to the crowd, which loved to follow an ear-piercing concert of whistles.
Uwe gratzky (49, gerolzhofen) also wants to keep his ears to the ground. Despite the tight financial situation, the deputy chairman of the works council noted a good mood among his people.
This should remain so, and so he demanded: "we urgently need a wage increase, because gas, oil and electricity prices have risen sharply."
The increased cost of living is also a thorn in the side of rico schenderlein (39). The bosch employee with two children grumbles: "with our income, we can hardly get by these days. " purchasing power used to be much higher and "there was more of my salary left over at the end of the month". His family was able to afford many things that today they have to save for a long time or even do without. In terms of retirement provision, employees were required by the company, but it had become difficult to put something aside privately as well. He now hopes for a wage increase just like dieter bock. "Food, drink and clothes are becoming more and more expensive, and anyone who has children knows what that costs, says bock – not to mention the rising costs of home ownership. His conclusion: "in the past, you could put a few euros aside, but today you can’t do anything anymore."