Strike Bike

Well workers occupied factories are spreading...here as promised is the strike bike factory report from the former East Germany.




Strike Bike
Report by Mag Wompel
Published here: 23/09/07

Dear Friends,

We hope you are going well. Here in Germany we have a new and interesting campaign. It’s a bicycle factory in eastern Germany. You can find more information in the press release below. You can find also it on our International-Germany-Site ‘Struggles and Strikes in Germany’. Please distribute it:
http://www.labournet.de/internationales/germany/struggles.html

For further informations about the campaign of the FAU-’Strike Bike’-Solidaritygroup:
Spokesperson: Folkert Mohrhof
mobile 0179-4863252 and...
respectively monday till friday from 10 am till 3 pm:
+49 40 - 20 90 68 96

In Solidarity, Mag and Ralf


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Staff of occupied bicycle factory in the Thuringian Nordhausen take up production in self-management again. Now they proudly presents: The ‘Strike Bike’ - Solidarity-Bikes from Nordhausen
The 135 colleagues of the bicycle factory Bike Systems GmbH in the Thuringian Nordhausen, who keep the factory occupied since 10th of July 2007, decided to resume the production of bicycles in self-management. For this aim 1, 800 binding orders on bicycles must be received till 2nd of October. So the collegues are working together with the anarcho-syndicalist union FAU (Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union ‘ Free Workers-Union), which formed for this campaign the internetpage www.strike-bike.de.

Since more than two month the staff keep the factory in the south of Harz Mountains in three shifts occupied. They want to prevent the definite dismantling and sale of the factory. The file for bankruptcy from 10th of august is against long odds: The factory is exploited and ran down, the hall was emptied except for the coating line. The staff receives unemployment compensation and hopes for a new concept and a new investor. In the time of occupation and in the wake of discussions during the visits of solidary people, the colleagues of the factory developed the idea to initially take up the production in self-management for a short time. Because it’s not the point to only prevent the evacuation of the last machines and to wait for a new investor, the idea of an own ‘Strike-Bike’ meet with more and more response. Now the opportunity arises to show the ability to develop an own concept and to self-manage production and distribution. If it goes well to collect 1, 800 advance orders for the bicycles produced in self-direction, we spread solidary ideas and bolster the colleagues in similar situations, not to let themselves easily being restructured to zero. By whomsoever! More Informations can be received at: www. strike-bike. de

For background informations and history of the occupation (only in German language)

www.labournet.de/branchen/sonstige/fahrzeug/bikesystems.html

Further backgrounds and the history of the conflict in English you can find in the article ‘The story so far ‘ an obvious lie!’ by anarcho-syndicalist union FAU (Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union ‘ Free Workers-Union)

http://www.labournet.de/internationales/germany/bike_strike_history.html

To get in contact with the staff and to take orders

Bikes in Nordhausen e.V.
c/o. André Kegel,
Bruno-Kunze-Str. 39
99734 Nordhausen
Telefon: 03631 - 622 124 and 03631 - 403 591
Fax: 03631 - 622 170
eMail: fahrradwerk@gmx.de