Strikes in Germany.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 57, 12 April 1912, Page 5

Strikes in Germany.

Many Struggles and increased Upheavals.

(Jhoiu tli.; C-titral Council of the luteruatioiulTransport Workers' Federation.)

Tht) German Transport Workers' I'ed- ! eratiou can look back upon it year of I tiiiiny Tlio iiuiulxt of niou involved in tlio movements in LIHI ittcroa.sod by 100 por cent, as compared to tho yvM lUIO. Of movemonts without a sluppayo of work, tlioro were Gsi! until the middle of December, which atl'ected 3821 concerns, witii altogethur 72,624 pwsoiM employed. Those movoments secured 202 agreements. Of strikes and lock-outs there wore 273, with 10,233 nititi involved, employed in HUG concents. TJieso movements" Becurod 8G tariff agn»monts. Tlio results secured were considerable. following tlio strike of blw seamtui in Stettin the wage was nwnwsed on January 1 frnin (JO to 63 marks (overtime 11) pig. an hour), , and on Ahurch 1 to 05 marks. I'lonsburg followed with an increase of overtime pay from 30 to 40 pfg. Hamburg also granted an increase in wages of 'i. 7 nvarks a month and uniform overtime pay of U) pfg. an hour ; up to that tim« the overtime pay was only 30 pfg. Bremen grantwl an ii.ierea.ie of 3.') marks and 10 pfg. an hour tor overtime, ilromwliaveri granted an increase of 3.J0 marks and 40 pfg. an hour for overtime. Afi'X'U'd were a!mut. 24,1)110 men, who securod altogetlier an average increase of 1,050,000 marks a year. This increase was secured without strike with tho exception of Stettin. The Genn-an seamen an> iii'iebled for it to the intelligence and active work of their organisation. The crews ol the fishing vessels un the Wc3cr secured an increase in wage and other improvements. A result was that the owners of tlio fishing vessels, in Hamburg and Altona increased the wages "voluntarily" by 5 marks. A successful wage niovemwvt was undertaken by the watermen gp the Oder. In spite of the resistance snown in the beginning, the Employers' Society for Inland Shipping Trade, local group Oder, was compelled to enter into negotiations, which were held in Berlin and Breslau. Those movements secured for the mates and boatswains an increase in wages of 3 marks a month and also better overtime jki.v. The agreements, which will be in operation iHi'til December 31, 1912, have in the course of tho year been accepted also by those concerns which opposed them in the beginning. A strike of the dockers in Mannheim \va3 tho signal for a general lockout in i.iiA entire harbor of JlatmJi.eim-Lud'wip.s-hafen. After a lockout of about four weeks an understanding waa 3ec.iirc-d till rough negotiations before the industrial court. Five agreements were made, with an average increase in wages of 1.30 up 2 marks a week. On April 1, 1912, a reduction of half an hour a day will occur for the majority of the laborers. Considerable improvements with regard to Sunday rest, night rest and wages have !>wn, secured for the engine, servants of the shipping concerns on the upper Rhine. An agreement was secured without a struggle for t'ho Strasshurg harbor district, which will bo in operation until April

39, IDlo, and whereby wage increases from 60 pfg. up to 3 marks a week have boon secured. A further increase of 10 pfg. a day will occur oa June 1, 1913, and on Juno 1, 1914. On April 1, lUI2, tho work time will be reduced half an hour a day. "Voluntary" increases in wages were also granted; for instance, in Hamburg, where the daily wage of the stevedores was increased from 4.80 to 5 marks; the workers on tho docks received an increase of 20 pfg., and tho weekly wage of the contract stevedores was increased from 30 marks to 31.20 marks. Tho Transport Workers' Federation has at presout 32,000 members in Hamburg; this accounts for the 'voluntary" oonccssiona of the employers. The laborers in the forwarding trade in Posen secured a tariff agreement after a strike of three days, which will Iμ , in operation until April I, 1914. Th<? wages increase at once by 1 mark a week, and in the following years by 75 and 50 pfg respectively. It was the first time that the employers negotiated with the Labor organisation aiwl recognised same. In Augsburg work had also to be stopped in order to induce the employers to enter into negotiations and to recognise a tariff agreement, which contains quite censicl■erabli." improvements of the wages and a regulation of the work time. A strike of tho transport workers in BariuenKlhf.rlVld ended after ten days with negotiations before the industrial court in Uanuon. An agreement was made for a. period of three years. The men secured a reduction of the daily work time of an average of two hours and an increase in wage, of 2 marks a week. Tho teamsters in Dusseldorf secured an increase in the wage of 3 marks a week and reduction of the work time of six hours a week. In Darmstadu also the transport workers have secured consider;) bio improvements. Very mimerous have been the movements of the tramway servants, which led to strikes in some instances. In ."Magdeburg they secured an increase in the monthly . wage of 10.15 marks for the conductors and of 20 marks for the drivers. Tho efforts of the management to frighten the servants by calling their attention to paragraph 182 of the old Prussian Industrial Regulation of January 17, 1845, whereby servants are liable to imprisonment up to one year if they agree on a stoppage of work, on a hindrance of work, remained without any result. Tho management had to bo taught that this paragraph is cancelled by paragraph 21 of the Public Society Law. A movement of the tramway savants in Hamburg only secured a partial result. The absence of the necessary interest among the majority of the tramway servants rendered a serious action inadvisable. In Berlin considerable improvements havo been secured, also in Mayoiue. In Strassburg all fee demands of tho servants were granted after a short strike. In Saaibrucken, after a short strike the servants secured a reduction of the work time and an increase in wage. A strike in Bronion, however, had to bo terminatpd unconditionally.