WEST GERMANY wer aussperrt,/
DIE gehört eingesper
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Battle resumes for the 35-hour week THE CONTRACTS of the two major West German unions that fought an historic battle for a 35-hour week in 1984 run out in the spring of 1987, which opens the way objectively for a renewal of the fight for a shorter workweek. Negotiations between the unions and the bosses began several weeks ago. It is already clear that the metal industry capitalists are no less determined to resist any reduction of the workweek than they were in 1984.
The following article, from the March 12 issue of Sozialistische Zeitung, the paper of the United Socialist Party in which German Fourth Internationalists participate, describes the issues and the first rounds of the battle.
IG Metall's overtime ban in BadenWurtemberg is beginning to show its first effects. There has also been a good participation in IG Metall's warning strikes.
How necessary mass actions by workers in the metal industry are now is shown clearly by the "offer" that the industry's bosses have made in the fifth round of negotiations in Nordrhein-Westfalen:
* After July 1, 1988 the workweek is to be reduced by an hour and a half to 38 hours! This rule is to last until the end of June 1991.
* For individuals, the workweek is to be flexible between 36 and 40 hours.
* The range over which the working time is to be averaged is to be extended from two months to a year.
* Saturdays are to be included in the normal distribution of worktime.
* From April 2, 1987, wages and salaries are to be increased by 2.7 per cent. From July 1, 1988, a further increase of 1.5 per cent is
Stimme 35 to go into effect.
With the establishment of the 38-hour week until the middle of 1991, the 35-hour week is to be buried as an issue in ordinary negotiations. Averaging worktime over a year is to make it possible to set the actual worktime in accordance with seasonal variations, which opens the way for a considerable intensification of labor and for smaller work teams.
The transformation of Saturday into a normal workday, along with the lengthening of the period over which worktime is to be averaged to a year. opens the way for new schemes for shift work and a major extension of factory operating time.
The wage expert in the IG Metall leadership, Klaus Zwickel, has declared that the union will not obstruct plans for extending the operating time of factories.
Anyone who leaves open the question of longer operating times will soon realize that they are inevitably drawn into a discussion of extending shift work and weekend work. This argument leads you further and further onto the defensive.
On the other hand, however, IG Metall does not have bad prospects for broad support, if it presents the alternatives clearly, instead of obscuring them. The successful actions that have been carried out show that. International Viewpoint 6 April 1987