Pierburg - Their struggle is our struggle

In August 1973, workers at the auto supplier Pierburg in Neuss staged a wildcat strike during which migrant women and local women declared their solidarity. The strike was successful and led to the elimination of the so-called "Leichtlohngruppe" (low wage group for women workers with "easy" jobs and an hourly wage of 4.70 German marks).

The strike was "an important incident in the history of migrant struggles (...) especially since it found a positive resonance in the German public. (...) One reason was that the gender-specific inequality offered chances for solidarity of German and migrant women. A series of other strikes of industrial workers happened around the same time: at AEG in Neumünster, at the Deutsche Telefonwerke in Rendsburg and elsewhere workers struggles for 'equal pay for equal work'." (Peter Birke)

For the 40th anniversay of the strike the film was published on DVD together with the book "Wilder Streik - Das ist Revolution - Der Streik der Arbeiterinnen bei Pierburg in Neuss 1973" (Wildcat Strike - That is Revolution - The Workers Strike at Pierburg in Neuss 1973).

We show the first 15 minutes of the film.