Strike over continued wages in case of illness

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The strike for sick pay began on October 24, 1956 in Schleswig-Holstein and developed into the longest labor dispute in Germany since 1905. More than 34,000 workers in the metal industry struck after 114 days a collective agreement that provided better protection for workers in the event of illness the wages continued to be paid in the event of illness. This laid the foundation for today's collective bargaining and legal regulations on sick pay.

Objectives of the strike

In August 1955, the executive board of IG Metall decided to have all framework collective agreements terminated where this would be possible. This was the case in Schleswig-Holstein, among others. The demands made for the new negotiations were:

  • Wage compensation in the event of illness,
  • an increase in vacation days and
  • the payment of an additional vacation allowance.

The focus was on the demand for equal treatment of workers and employees in the event of illness: employees were already paid full wages in the event of illness.

The Schleswig-Holstein employers and the general association of metal industrialists feared a precedent and therefore wanted to prevent continued payment of wages in the event of illness.

Execution of a strike

Preparatory talks with the employers followed and on July 28, 1956 the first negotiation, which did not lead to an agreement. On September 28, the union negotiating commission finally declared the employers' offer to be insufficient. The Grand Collective Bargaining Commission decided to submit the results of the negotiations to those affected for a decision. The employers were informed of the intention to hold a ballot on October 11th and 12th.

In the entire tariff area, the organizational ratio was 71.9%. Of the 62,366 workers, 44,856 were members of IG Metall. There was a well-developed trust body in almost all administrative offices. The efforts of the district commission to prepare employees in the factories for a dispute ranged from press conferences to advertisements, leaflets and posters to weekend training courses and major events. For the first time, such a long strike was not about improving wages, but about a framework collective agreement. The two main demands - wage compensation and vacation pay - would have made up around 3.23% of the gross wage bill. In addition, the economic situation was excellent. The order books of the shipyards had reached an unprecedented high in autumn 1956.

Attempts at arbitration

Attempts at an agreement by the Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Kai-Uwe von Hassel , remained unsuccessful. Hassel's mediation proposal - which did not take into account any of the core demands of IG Metall - was rejected in a ballot on January 7, 1957 with 97.4%. The labor dispute was extended to other companies.

Negotiations chaired by the former labor minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Johann Ernst, led to a result that the board, the strike leadership and the collective bargaining committee recommended, but the strikers did not agree. With 76.2% they rejected the result of the negotiations on January 30th. The Great Tariff Commission had already voted in favor with a narrow majority of 32 to 30 votes. The result, it was argued, did not ensure equal treatment.

End of the strike

Renewed arbitration negotiations led to a unanimous agreement proposal in Kiel on February 9th. In the fourth ballot, 39.7% of the strikers accepted it, 60.3% voted against. The actual result of this primary vote was not published as a specific figure. Since the IG Metall regulations require the consent of at least 75% of the employees for a labor dispute, the strike was over.

On the trade union side, this negotiation result was perceived as a decisive breakthrough in terms of equal treatment for workers and employees. A longer vacation and better vacation pay were also agreed. From the union's point of view, one of the longest strikes in German social history was successfully concluded. A few months later, the Bundestag passed the “Law to Improve Economic Security for Workers in the Event of Illness”, the forerunner of final equality through the Law on Continuing Wages of 1969.

On October 31, 1958, the Federal Labor Court sentenced IG Metall to compensation for the damage caused by the strike. The Federal Labor Court assessed the union ballot as a "combat measure" that had taken place before the end of the peace obligation agreed in the collective agreement.

literature

  • Fritz Köhler: Three just demands. The metal workers strike in Schleswig-Holstein . Verlag Tribüne, Berlin 1958.
  • The judgment of the Federal Labor Court in the Schleswig-Holstein metal workers' strike . Beck, Munich 1959.
  • IG Metall: Material and statements on the judgment of the Federal Labor Court in Kassel of October 31, 1958 against IG Metall due to claims for damages by employers from the metal workers' strike in Schleswig-Holstein . Frankfurt am Main 1959.
  • Andreas Hamann : Trade unions and the principle of the welfare state. At the same time a critical opinion on the judgment of the Federal Labor Court on the Schleswig-Holstein metal workers strike in 1956. Legal opinion / submitted by Andreas Hamann . Union-Druck, Frankfurt / M. 1959.
  • Lothar Schimmelpfennig: The metal workers strike in Schleswig-Holstin 1956/57: a demonstration of the nature and importance of the working class community of action . Berlin 1963. (Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 1963)
  • Irene Dittrich, Wilfried Kalk: "We no longer want to be second class people!" The metal workers strike in Schleswig-Holstein in 1956/57 . In: Democratic History . 2, pp. 351-393 (1987). ISSN  0932-1632
  • There is a strike here! Metal workers strike in Schleswig-Holstein in 1956/57 . Edited by Holger Gorr, Rita Sührig. Bund-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2011, ISBN 978-3-7663-6099-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ BAG, judgment of October 31, 1958, Az. 1 AZR 632/57.

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