The “extraordinary” strike year 2015: Reasons, results, perspectives

The paper discusses causes, contexts and consequences of the exceptional high level of strikes sweeping Germany in the year 2015. It gives a detailed overview of the three biggest strike movements (nursery teachers, postal strike and metal industry warning strikes) and sums up the vast number of smaller strikes. The new intensity of conflict is interpreted in a double way: On the one hand it is the consequence of a long lasting union weakness in the past resulting in erosion and fragmentation of collective bargaining. On the other hand it shows that there is a current fight going on to end union defensive. New conflicts at new economic places are breaking off and they are often led by employees who have no long union and strike experience. The feminization and tertiarization of strikes involve for the unions the necessity to refine ‘old’ fordist strike strategies and to deal with new subjects, maybe in a more democratic way than before.The paper discusses causes, contexts and consequences of the exceptional high level of strikes sweeping Germany in the year 2015. It gives a detailed overview of the three biggest strike movements (nursery teachers, postal strike and metal industry warning strikes) and sums up the vast number of smaller strikes. The new intensity of conflict is interpreted in a double way: On the one hand it is the consequence of a long lasting union weakness in the past resulting in erosion and fragmentation of collective bargaining. On the other hand it shows that there is a current fight going on to end union defensive. New conflicts at new economic places are breaking off and they are often led by employees who have no long union and strike experience. The feminization and tertiarization of strikes involve for the unions the necessity to refine ‘old’ fordist strike strategies and to deal with new subjects, maybe in a more democratic way than before