Around 2000 employees in the metal and electrical industry took to the streets in Leipzig for higher wages. "Significantly more people came than we expected," said IG Metall spokesman Markus Sievers on Saturday in Leipzig. The mood is good, the demonstrators loudly drew attention to themselves and their demands.

In a new collective bargaining round, the union is demanding a significant wage increase of eight percent for the approximately 3.9 million employees in the industry in view of the strong inflation. Employees traveled to the demonstration in downtown Leipzig on special trains from Chemnitz and Zwickau. "Buses have also come from Brandenburg and Berlin," says Sievers. In addition to the district manager for Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony, IG Metall boss Jörg Hofmann also spoke. "Now is not the time for restraint, now is the time for a strong, tabular increase in salaries and training allowances," he said.

The union's demand is the highest for the metal and electrical industry since 2008. At that time, Germany's largest individual union also demanded eight percent more money.