Staff of an occupied bicycle factory in Germany have take up production and are now self-managing their enterprise.

To gain support they are producing - The "Strike Bike" - Solidarity-Bikes from Nordhausen

The 135 workers of the bicycle factory Bike Systems GmbH in the Thuringian Nordhausen, who occupied the factory on 10th of July 2007, decided to resume the production of bicycles under self-management.

To maintain production they need 1,800 "advanced" orders on bicycles by 2nd of October. They have both mens and womens models. To support them, colleagues from the anarcho-syndicalist union FAU (Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union – Free Workers-Union), started an internet campaign:  www.strike-bike.de .

After two months of occupying the factory the staff are now working three shifts to prevent the  dismantling and sale of the factory by owners who want simply to consolidate their investments.

They decided not to wait around for another boss to be found. They have a better idea! What if this sort of thing catches on?  Did somebody say we need to "build a better world" than that on offer by the neo-liberalists? Well these bike builders are doing it.

Please circulate their webpage widely.

More Information and the complete press-release go to: http://www.strike-bike.de/1/index.php?&hl=en_US

and Labournet, the British Labor website, has more background where we discover that an American firm is involved in closing the factory.

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

-bernard @ Inkworks Press, Berkeley, CA