Workers at Continental in Hesse, Germany carry out 24-hour strike
On April 15 workers at the Continental Auto plant in Karben, Hesse carried out a 24-hour strike to protest against the decision to close the factory by 2023.
Continental intends to wipe out 30,000 jobs worldwide and close a series of factories. The plan was decided by the corporation’s executive at the beginning of September 2020 in order to save €1 billion by 2023. The German engineering union IG Metall, which has known about the plans for more than a year, is focusing protest actions at individual plants in order to isolate workers and prevent a joint struggle by all Conti employees.
As we all know, in October of that year, the stock market crashed and the weather took a turn for the worst. In many areas of Saskatchewan, farmers would seed their fields only to see a dust storm blow the seeds away, or bury them so deep they could not germinate. The rain even stopped as a large drought set in.
Even in Yorkton, during those early years, times were more difficult than usual. The Roxy Theatre lowered its prices to attract customers and the city was unable to keep up employment and had to provide relief for its citizens. Merchants tried to keep spirits high, even organizing 95 Cent Days. During the celebration, businesses would try to out-do each other in terms of offering bargains.