Timelines

From 1950 to 1973, more than 250,000 migrants in West Germany launched strikes to demand better wages and improved working conditions. The movement peaked in 1973. At Pierburg, an automotive supplier, predominantly women from Yugoslavia, Spain, Turkey, Greece, and Italy successfully advocated for the elimination of the light wage group 2 and a wage increase of one Deutsche Mark. Simultaneously, thousands of workers from Turkey, Italy, and the former Yugoslavia at Ford Cologne went on strike, facing arduous labor for meager compensation. Unfortunately, their strikes were met with opposition from trade unions and the media, resulting in violent suppression. Work stoppages were also recurrent in East Germany. Between 1974 and 1984, there were at least 15 strikes involving more than 800 Algerian workers in GDR factories. The largest strike occurred in 1975 at the Schwarze Pumpe gas combine, leading to successful wage hikes, improved training opportunities, and the right for workers to move from the company's housing barracks to conventional housing blocks. Another notable incident was the 1985 strike by 22 Mozambican workers at VEB (Volkseigener Betrieb) Meerane in Saxony, which endured for several days.