German Steel Workers Gear Up for 18-Day Protest Over Job Security and Green Transition Costs
27.06.2026 - 01:51:41 | boerse-global.de
The IG Metall union has called for strikes and demonstrations at 14 locations across North Rhine-Westphalia from July 1 to July 18, 2026, as tensions between labor and management in Germany's steel industry reach a boiling point. Sites in Cologne and the Ruhr region are among those targeted, with union district chief Knut Giesler warning of "social cutbacks and performance reductions" that he says employers are pushing through.
The protest wave follows last year's termination of collective bargaining agreements for northwestern German steel producers by IG Metall NRW, which kicked off the 2025 wage round. Union leaders have ruled out a zero-wage increase and insist on protecting both employment and real wages while trying to retain skilled workers in an industry under immense pressure to decarbonize.
That pressure is compounded by a deeply uneven financial picture. Saarstahl recently reported mounting losses, while Dillinger posted a surplus. Such disparities make a unified employer response difficult. ArcelorMittal has already halted its green transformation plans at German sites, prompting IG Metall to demand a national steel summit.
A new study from the University of Mannheim, commissioned by the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung and published in June 2026, argues that climate-neutral steel production in Germany can be economically viable – but only under specific conditions. Authors Professor Tom Krebs and Patrick Kaczmarczyk prescribe a capped industrial electricity price of €60 per megawatt-hour, hydrogen priced at €140 per megawatt-hour, state investment subsidies covering 50 percent of costs, European procurement rules (Buy-European), and protective tariffs against cheap imports. Under those assumptions, primary steel would cost around €590 per tonne and secondary steel roughly €464 per tonne. The long-term goal: 40 million tonnes of climate-friendly steel annually.
Yet other analyses flag serious competitive risks. A June 2026 study by the EWI (Institute of Energy Economics) criticizes the RED-III industrial quota, which mandates a 42 percent share of green hydrogen by 2030. Using automotive production as an example, the report calculates that green steel could add roughly €130 to the cost of each vehicle. For the more than four million cars forecast for 2025, that would require four terawatt-hours of green hydrogen – a supply that does not yet exist.
The broader metal and electrical industries are also feeling the heat. At Volkswagen, plans announced in late June 2026 envision up to 100,000 job cuts globally and four plant closures in Germany. Mercedes-Benz has postponed a collectively agreed special payment worth 18.4 percent of a monthly salary until 2027, while management pushes for longer working hours at unchanged pay. Worker representatives at both companies have vowed determined opposition.
As IG Metall mobilizes its members across 14 sites this July, the confrontation over wages, jobs, and the pace of the green transition shows no sign of easing. The union is betting that sustained public pressure can force employers and policymakers to deliver the framework the industry needs – before the window for a viable climate-friendly steel sector in Germany closes.
