WEST GERMANY
this demand, he said, were trade unionists who do not subordinate themselves to the logic of capitalism or try to balance between the bosses and the workers. What was needed are people who consistently represent the workers' interests. That is what Franz Steinkuehler said. And strangely enough, the most
The fight begins
Arbeitsplätze
sichern!
tund Soeren BECH
DUISBURG - Some 2.7 million organized engineering workers 100,000 of their unorganized workmates are preparing for the most important labor struggle since the war. It is getting underway in the coming weeks.
The West German engineering workers union is demanding a 35-hour week with no cut in pay. But the workers face strong opposition from the government and the employers.
The background to the engineering union's demand for a shorter workweek is the growth of massive unemployment in West Germany. In 1980, a million people were out of work; now there are 2.5 million registered unemployed. Moreover, the upturn that began in 1983 has not brought any more jobs.
Travelling through the Ruhr region, it is obvious that industry has been Hoesch steelworks stands quiet and desosmokeless, the blast furnaces cold.
On the broad highway leading River. The whole horizon was lined with factory chimneys. Smoke came from a lot of them, but by no means all.
"The highest smokestacks belong to Kupferhuette, a copperworks owned by the English concern Rio Tinto," Hermann
La dockworker at the colossal Thyssen-Hamborn steelworks in Duis-
"Around 1,200 copper foundry work ers have been thrown on the streets, even though they put up a fight. Their struggle was unsuccessful because the chairman of the engineering workers union organization in Duisburg, Rainer Buhlitz, who is also the mayor, refused to support them.
"On the other hand, the workers at the Krupp-Rheinhausen steelworks here won. Krupp wanted to fire 4,500 of the 8,000 workers at the plant. But the workforce put up such a strong fight that the company had to change its plans."
Dirkes went on to point out that "17 percent of the workers in Duisburg are without jobs. That is a record for the Ruhr region, where 10 million people 20 for the
35-hour week
live." The official unemployment rate is 10 percent.
So, something has to happen. employment continues to spiral, this will labor movement. Hermann Dirkes noted:
the engineering union (IG Metall) lost 100,000 members. These were all people who dropped out of the union after they lost their jobs. That represents a sharp decline in membership, and that is something that the union leadership understands. ership was also prodded by the threat that if they did not do something, they would lose their credibility and another 100,000 members could drop out. use is a trade union that doesn't do The unions take the offensive
So, at the end of 1983, the IG Metall top leadership in Frankfurt am Main launched an offensive for a 35-hour
At loggerheads with the top leadership are the bureaucrats at the intermediate and somewhat lower levels, in particular in the Nordrhein-Westfalen district (which includes the Ruhr), who have traditionally been deeply mired in
"The union functionaries here in the Ruhr want to do as little as possible. They know that if they get the 35-hour week fight going, that means the end of the cozy class-collaboration they have spent decades trying to build up with chis struggle will lead to a big mobili zation in the union, and that then the membership could want to replace them with more active leaders. So, in the present case, the top leadership holds the
"Specifically, it is the IG Metall's new vice president, Franz Steinkuehler, a strong figure, who is for a more active
On February 2, he gave a great speech here in Duisburg, one filled with a militant spirit. There were 600 people in the audience, and the class-collaborationist leaders got a real kick in the behind."
Dirkes continued: "Franz Steinkuehler said that unemployment makes the 35-hour week with no cut in pay an urgent necessity. What is needed to win pro-boss union leaders clapped loudly. They didn't dare do anything else, because new factory council elections were coming up in mid-March."
The majority of the West German engineering workers support the 35-hour week. They think that something has to be done about unemployment. But on the other hand, they have had bad experiences with IG Metall. So, they are skeptical and want to see some evidence that the IG Metall top leaders are really serious this time before they strike or demonstrate.
Andreas Kroker, an apprentice at the Gutehoffningshuette in Sterkrade, where 3,000 people work, explained:
"During the weeks-long steel strike in December 1978-January 1979, IG Metall dropped the demand for a 35-hour week and agreed to a compromise that provided for six weeks vacation a year, something that the workers never asked for. Most of my fellow workers think that when IG Metall, for example, demands an 8 percent raise, it settles for 4 percent, and so a lot of people think that now that it is demanding 35 hours, it will settle for 39 hours or 35 with a cut in pay. And so they think that it's not worth going on strike and losing the money.
"On top of that, the local union leaders at the Gutehoffningshuette works have done absolutely nothing to explain how the 35-hour week is to be introduced in practice. Does this mean that we will have to do in seven hours what we do in eight today? Will it be possible to bring in more workers after the introduction of the 35-hour week, how many and where? Most of the workers think that it is fine that the union magazine, week, but at the same time they have a lot of questions in their minds."
Dirkes from Thyssen-Hamborn, where 32,000 people work, added:
"This time the IG Metall leadership has gone a long way. strongly for the 35-hour week. no longer any way back. of the union knows that if they lose or accept an inadequate compromise, they the government are standing tough, and if they win, it will be decisive proof that the union is weak, and then they wouldn't give us a penny in next years's contract negotiations.
"So, there is no doubt that the IG Metall leadership wants to get strikes going in selected areas in the coming weeks, especially in the automotive industry. And if struggles really get started, then the mood among the workers can swing in a few days from skepticism to full support and militancy."
International Viewpoint 9 April 1984
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