A victory for the metal workers could prove a key step towards progressive employment in all industries as work is increasingly automated.

German metals and engineering workers who are members of the giant IG Metall union begin strikes next week at automotive companies as part of a campaign for higher pay and a 28 hour week.

IG Metall is demanding a 6% wage rise for 3.9 million workers, along with the right for its members to choose to work a 28 hour week for a period of two years to undertake family care and community work – with no loss of pay. German engineering workers currently work a 35 hour week.

“We will build pressure with our first wave of warning strikes so the employers finally show some movement in negotiations,” Juergen Wechsler, head of IG Metall in Bavaria.

Employers have dismissed IG Metall’s pay claim as excessive and so far offered only a 2% increase as well as a 200 euro ($241) one-off payment in the first quarter. They have also rejected the 28 hours claim.

The first auto company to be hit will be Porsche. More are set to follow ahead of a next round of pay negotiations in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, also home of Daimler and automotive supply chain companies including Bosch.

In Bavaria, where major companies such as BMW and engineering group Siemens are based, negotiations will resume on January 15th.

The populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, home to companies such as Thyssenkrupp, is to follow on January 18th.

“Should there still be no progress then, we will add more warning strikes and decide whether to go for 24-hour strikes,” Knut Giesler, head of IG Metall in North Rhine-Westphalia, said.

The German metal workers’ are demanding what we’re told we can’t have: pay increases and a cut in working hours. Increasingly overworked and exploited British workers should pay attention, this could be the beginning of something big.

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