Vestas employees in Germany have initiated an indefinite strike in a bid to improve pay and working conditions at the Danish turbine manufacturer.
An estimated 300 employees who are affiliated with union IG Metall are taking part in the industrial action, which started on Monday at a number of sites across the country.
The strike has “resulted in significant restrictions on construction sites … and the commissioning of new systems in the wind farms” IG Metall spokesman Martin Bitter said in a statement.
The union is calling for better working conditions, including greater transparency in remuneration, wage increases and equal pay for equal work.
It held four warning strikes earlier this year after Vestas broke off negotiations in July.
“Our goal remains collective bargaining with the company.
“The door for discussions is always open with us,” said Daniel Friedrich, district manager at IG Metall.
In a statement Vestas said it “regrets strongly” the action initiated by IG Metall.
“We saw that the vast majority (approximately 85%) of our Vestas Deutschland employees did not follow the call from IG Metall to go on strike.
“The aftermath of the pandemic, Russia’s war in the Ukraine, and other external factors which we cannot influence hit Vestas and the wind industry overall hard,” the company added.
“Despite all of this, Vestas has worked relentlessly to support our employees in the best possible way.
“Amongst other measures, we brought forward a proposal to the works council to significantly increase the salaries of our service technicians.
“However, influenced by IG Metall, our works council decided to not sign the proposed agreement.
“The dialogue about further improvements with our works council is active and on-going.
“We are confident that we will continue to agree measures with the works council helping Vestas to stay an attractive, modern and competitive employer.”