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Ludwig Erhard during the CDU party conference in 1971 in Düsseldorf: The Chancellor smoked "Handelsgold"
Photo: Horst Ossinger / dpa
In the wage dispute in the industry, around 60 employees of the cigar manufacturer Arnold André in Königslutter in the Helmstedt district have stopped working. Two shifts are "outside" and are fighting for higher wages, said Anke Siedentop of the food-pleasure-restaurants union (NGG). The warning strikes should be extended throughout the day to increase pressure in ongoing collective bargaining. At the beginning of May, the workforce at the company's location in Lower Saxony went on strike for higher wages.
The industry employs around 1,500 people nationwide, for whom the union is calling for an income increase of 5.5 percent. In the lower wage groups, there should be at least 75 cents more per hour, no hourly wage should fall below the mark of 12 euros. "Business with cigars and cigarillos is going well even in the pandemic," emphasized Siedentop. The union referred to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, according to which cigars and cigarillos worth 737 million euros were sold last year - an increase of 11.6 percent. The employers had offered 1.2 percent more wages.
Cigars are considered to be a luxury food for the rich, but according to the union, little of them is received by employees.
“The companies themselves admit that they got through the crisis very well.
But they refuse to give the employees their fair share of the success, «criticized NGG negotiator Marcel Mansouri.
Better pay is also an important means of countering the shortage of skilled workers that the industry laments.
The third round of collective bargaining will take place on June 17th in Melle.
Arnold André is Germany's largest cigar manufacturer.
The company, which was founded in 1817, became known with brands such as Handelsgold and Clubmaster.
The former Chancellor Ludwig Erhard smoked the former regularly.
The Tropenschatz brand is still Germany's best-selling cigar today.
nek / dpa
