German workers rally at
Ramstein Air Base for higher
wages
A protest at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, staged by a union representing
German civilians working on U.S. bases, included pig figures with a German
sign that translates to "Employees of the armed forces." The pigs refer not to
greed, but to the German idiom, "poor pig!" German employees are lobbying
for a wage increase.
DAVID ROGERS/STARS AND STRIPES
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By Cid Standifer
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 3, 2013
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Pia Mueller, a secretary of the ver.di union representing German workers on
U.S. bases, positions a sign during a protest April 3, 2013, on Ramstein Air
Base, Germany. German employees working on bases in the Kaiserslautern
area say they haven't received wage increases for three years.
DAVID ROGERS/STARS AND STRIPES
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — There may have been only
about a dozen protesters at Ramstein Air Base Wednesday, but
they brought along the Three Little Pigs for muscle.
The pigs — balloon-filled bags with pig faces and ears — bore
signs in German saying: “Employees of the armed forces,”
referring not to supposed greed, but to the German idiom, “poor
pig!”
The union representing German civilians working on U.S. bases in
the Kaiserslautern Military Community says they haven’t received
raises in three years, even as inflation – about 2 percent annually,
according to statistics maintained by Triami Media BV — and
rising energy prices have eaten into their paychecks. The
protesters handed out fake $0 bills to symbolize their plight.
The union staged the symbolic protests at Ramstein, Pirmasens
and other bases in the Kaiserslautern area a day before workers,
represented by the union ver.di were to meet with the military’s
representatives to lay out initial positions for tariff agreement
negotiations, which ver.di says will affect pay for 22,000 German
civilians. Full-fledged negotiations are scheduled to take place
April 23.
Regina Divivier, a union representative and member of the
Ramstein Works Council, which resolves problems between
employees and bosses, said the union represents about 600
civilian workers at Ramstein alone.
For each of the past two years, workers have accepted a one-time
300-euro bonus instead of raises, according to Divivier. This time,
she said, they plan to ask for raises of 5.5 percent, though she said
that was negotiable.
Divivier said that there was already a first round of negotiations in
February where the employers said they could grant no pay raise
at all.
Harsh economics are squeezing the military from all sides, with
sequestration demanding dramatic cuts from each of the services.
To cut costs, most civilian Defense Department employees are
slated for a 14-day furlough this year spread out one day a week
through September, which will amount to a loss of nearly three
weeks’ pay. And U.S. federal workers also have not seen recent
pay raises; Congress recently extended a pay freeze on civilian
federal employees into its third year.
The protesters wore plastic vests emblazoned with Wir sind es
wert — “We’re worth it.”
“If you have a job and you do your job, you’re worth your money,”
said Ingrid Buschmann, another employee.
Asked what she thought about the union’s chances for winning a
raise under current fiscal conditions, Divivier demurred, saying
she didn’t want to undermine the union’s negotiating position.
But Kurt Saipt, another employee representative on the Works
Council, doesn’t think the economy is the problem.
“I think that it’s not a question of if they can or not,” he said. “It’s
whether they recognize it’s important.”
Reporter Marcus Klöckner contributed to this report.
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