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From Gunnar Klehm
Just in time for the start of the early shift, dozens of employees at the Recycling company SRW metalfloat in front of the company's west gate in Espenhain, Saxony. They were on strike until last week. However, this has now been interrupted, as the Industrial Union (IG) Metal explained. The aim is to approach the employer.
However, the employees were not allowed into their workplaces. Employees of a security service contracted by the company did not let anyone through who had been on strike until Friday. The key transponders were all blocked.
The company announced that it was exercising its right to impose a lockout. The company called what IG Metall described as a gesture of peace a sleight of hand. "It is a transparent maneuver to take the so far completely unsuccessful industrial action directly into the company. We are once again calling on IG Metall to finally end the industrial action and realize that every additional day unnecessarily exacerbates the division of the workforce at SRW," explained Daniel Fischer, Head of Finance Germany at the Scholz Recycling Group, to which SRW belongs.
Company justifies lockout
The lockout was also justified by the fact that "it is objectively not possible to reintegrate the people taking part in the industrial action into the new structures that have now been established in the short term." Because there are no longer as many employees available due to the lockout, the company has switched from a three-shift to a two-shift operation. There are also fears that the indefinite strike could be resumed at any time and without notice.
From the union's point of view, this justification is "outrageous", as stated in a press release. "Together with the works council, we visited the Managing Director of SRW, Thomas Müller, in person on May 3. We offered to jointly revise the shift system to enable smooth work processes. The managing director rejected this," explains Michael Heckersecond authorized representative of IG Metall Leipzig. For example, the strikers first wanted to pay off the remaining vacation from 2023.
Instead, a letter from the management was posted on the entrance fence on Monday morning. It stated that the strikers would be locked out for the time being until May 31 and that they were banned from the entire company premises.
No continued payment of wages
The decision to go back to work and break the strike was not an easy one for the strike management - after 180 days on strike. This was the longest strike by employees ever seen in Germany.
An inconclusive end to the strike would be a bitter defeat for the IG Metall industrial union, even though it was officially stated that the strike would merely be "interrupted" from May 6. "With this decision, we are taking a huge step towards the employer," said Michael Hecker, chief negotiator and second authorized representative of IG Metall Leipzig, immediately after the decision. There was still no talk of a possible lockout.
According to IG Metall, this has not happened in Germany for 40 years. A lockout means that the employer forgoes the work offered by the striking employees. Despite a valid employment contract, no wages have to be paid during this time. The last known case of a lockout dates back to 2011, when the company Veolia locked out train drivers during a train drivers' strike. A court rejected this as inadmissible. However, only because not all strikers were locked out. This could be a different legal situation in the SRW case. It is not yet clear whether the courts will have to deal with it.
"Instead of responding to our outstretched hand, the lockout is a slap in the face for the employees of SRW," explains Hecker and continues: "We are appalled at the coldness and contempt with which our colleagues are being treated by those responsible at Scholz Recycling and SRW."
Employers are allowed to lock out
SRW regards it as a vested right to respond to strikes with lockouts. However, the legal framework for this is tight. The company merely announced that an end to the strike was "overdue". But it is also likely to be about money. In the event of a strike, IG Metall pays strike pay. This varies depending on the length of membership of the union and amounts to around 350 euros per week.
Since November 8, 2023, there has been a strike at SRW metalfloat in Espenhain near Leipzig. The main demand was for the company to be bound by a collective agreement, which has not yet been reached. IG Metall initially demanded an eight percent pay rise for employees, an increase in vacation and Christmas bonuses to €1,500 each and a reduction in the working week to 38 hours.
IG Metall later developed an in-house collective agreement based on the values and wages published by the company, which the employer voluntarily increased at the other German Group sites.
Willingness to strike was a problem
However, the union apparently estimated that employees were more willing to strike than they actually were. The company suffered considerable losses due to the loss of working hours. However, the non-striking employees were able to maintain operations in two shifts, albeit under extreme conditions.
In financial terms, IG Metall could have continued to pay strike pay to employees for longer. "Nobody will empty IG Metall's strike fund," it was said behind closed doors.
However, the company recently announced that key protagonists of the strike have left the company. The current chairman of the works council "has asked for his employment contract to be terminated as of April 30". The successor to the works council also wanted to leave the company. In the meantime, only a minority of employees are still on strike.
The union contradicts this. Just under 100 of the 180 employees took part in the strike. In the ballot at the beginning, as many as 90 percent voted in favor of a strike. In actual fact, however, fewer of them took part in the indefinite strike. In the administration, everyone continued to work as planned.
Company talks with works council
The company SRW Metalfloat is part of the Scholz Recycling Group based in Essingen in Baden-Württemberg. Daniel Fischer, Head of Finance Germany at Scholz Recycling, explained after the "personal decisions" of the works councils: "These should give the union officials food for thought. Our offer applies: if the works council of SRW metalfloat wants to negotiate again, we are ready."
At the end of 2016, the Chiho Environmental Group Limited a listed scrap recycling company from China acquired Scholz Holding GmbH and thus also SRW metalfloat. Chiho Environmental Group is based in Hong Kong and is registered in the Cayman Islands.
Politicians turned a blind eye
Numerous federal and state politicians had offered their help and mediation in the strike. Two weeks ago, 79 members of the Bundestag wrote an open letter calling on Scholz Recycling to conclude a collective agreement for SRW metalfloat and thus comply with a demand made by IG Metall. 78 members of parliament belong to the SPD and Bündnis90/Grüne parliamentary groups. In addition, the Leipzig CDU member of parliament Jens Lehmann (CDU) co-signed the letter. In response, the company spoke of "unacceptable political interference".
Also Left-wing politicians like Gregor Gysi came to the strikers at the factory gate and promised them their support. Even Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) visited the strikers and wanted to help mediate in the dispute with the employer. But even he was unable to get things moving.
Trade union official Michael Hecker does not want to speak of a defeat. The employees are still determined to fight for improved working conditions. There is even understanding for the colleagues who have now switched to a company with collectively agreed wages.
Hecker has not lost his optimism and still assumes that, under the now more relaxed conditions, "a discussion process can begin on how the working conditions of colleagues can be collectively and legally agreed by the social partners - with external moderation if necessary".
