Warning strike at PTG Güstrow: Employees demand fair wages!

Warning strike at PTG Güstrow: Employees demand fair wages!

In Güstrow, a warning strike will take place at PTG Präzisionstechnik Güstrow GmbH on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. The employees stop work from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and the reason could hardly be more significant: the company refuses to sign a collective agreement, even though collective agreements already exist at the main company in Heide.

“For many employees, their income from a 40-hour week is at the level of the minimum wage,” explains Stefan Schad, managing director of IG Metall in Rostock. This is a clear alarm for affected employees whose financial well-being is at stake. The workforce is demanding measures to improve their working conditions, including an increase in monthly wages of 150 euros and the introduction of holiday and Christmas bonuses. In addition, an annual holiday entitlement of 28 days is aimed for, whereas currently only 25 days are granted.

Demands and background

Michael Rudolph, works council at PTG, is pushing for working conditions to be brought into line with the existing regulations in Heide. During a conversation about the first round of negotiations, the local managing director in Güstrow rejected the collective agreement despite the existing collective agreement, which caused anger.

The warning strike is part of a larger trend in the metal and electrical industries in Germany. IG Metall is also demanding 7 percent higher salaries for around 3.9 million members on a nationwide level. This collective bargaining round is particularly explosive because the purchasing power of employees has suffered greatly in recent years due to high inflation. Employers, on the other hand, only offer an increase of 3.6 percent over 27 months, which is considered inadequate.

“We see the disproportionate increases in training allowances as an important aspect,” says Daniel Friedrich, district manager of IG Metall Coast. Warning strikes have already begun at various locations, such as Airbus and BMW. A particularly hot topic in this round of collective bargaining is the required supplements for trainees and better options to choose between money or free time.

A clear appeal to employers

“It can’t go on like this,” adds Schad, making it clear that IG Metall is not prepared to back down. An agreement on fair remuneration and improvement of working conditions must be reached, otherwise IG Metall is planning nationwide all-day warning strikes to emphasize their demands.

Current developments in the metal and electrical industries cannot be viewed in isolation. The economic situation in many companies is tense and employers are warning against unrealistic expectations. At the same time, however, they face a clear demand for more purchasing power that they cannot ignore.

The events in Güstrow are part of the bigger picture, and the employees are doing everything they can to make their voice heard. Whether in the upcoming warning strikes or in the negotiations - IG Metall stands firmly behind the concerns of its members and is fighting for better working conditions throughout the industry.