Germany’s transport network happens to be at a near standstill as the nation experiences one of its largest strikes in decades. Staff present in railways, airports, ports, buses, and also subways walked out shortly after midnight for a 24-hour stoppage beginning March 27.
It is well to note that two of Germany’s largest unions are demanding higher wages in order to help with the rise in the cost of living. The interior minister of the country, Nancy Faeser, said that she is optimistic that an agreement will be reached in the week ending April 1, 2023.
Apparently, according to Faeser, many public service workers happen to be suffering from high inflation and also high energy prices. This is why it is their job to reach a good agreement. There have been other small walkouts by public servants too. Monday’s mega-strike, as it has been put across Germany by local media, has affected commuters as well as regional trains operated by Deutsche Bahn, which is Germany’s national rail operator. Local transport services such as trams and buses aren’t operating in seven states.
One of the protestors in Berlin told the AFP news that the petrol and food prices have gone up and the effect can be felt in one’s pocket. Thousands of flights all across Germany have been cancelled at two of the country’s biggest airports, Frankfurt and Munich. It is well to be noted that multiple flights from Munich were also disrupted on March 26 because of the strike.
According to one of the persons, who was trying to reach Malaga in Spain, he was shocked and will have to find out a way on what to do.
According to Germany’s airport association, a tentative 380,000 air travellers will get affected due to the strike, but they also added that it was beyond a justifiable and imaginable measure. Jenny Hill, who happens to be the BBC’s correspondent in Berlin, said that it was very rare for a pay dispute to escalate the way it is seen in Germany, but this time it is indeed different as the country’s two largest unions have come together.
It is well to be noted that Verdi is a representor of around 2.5 million employees all throughout the public sector, which includes public transport and airports as well. The union, apparently, wants to secure a 10.5% increase in pay. On the other hand, EVG, which represents 230,000 employees across Deutsche Bahn as well as other bus companies, intends for a pay rise of 12%.
Both the unions are hopeful that the strike is going to increase the pressure on employers ahead of another pay negotiation round that is scheduled to take place this week. The chief of Verdi, Frank Werneke, in an interview given to Bild, described the pay rise as a matter of survival for many thousands of employees. According to him, the employees aren’t only underpaid but also hopelessly overworked. According to Martin Burkert, the EVG Chairman, they are yet to get a viable offer from the employers and have warned of further strikes over the Easter holiday break. He added that they expect an offer on which they can negotiate, but they do not have any as of now.
As per Nancy Faeser, the government has presented a good offer, and she now accepts the unions’ request to move away from their steep demands and meet them on the same page.
Deutsche Bahn has in fact condemned the strike, describing it as groundless, excessive, and unnecessary. Some employer representatives have gone on to warn that the unions are making unreasonable demands that run the risk of alienating the public. It is well to be noted that successful wage increases have been negotiated of late, like for postal workers who won a 11.5% increase in pay quite recently in March.
The strike on March 27 follows a similar kind of walkout that took place in February this year, when 2300 flights were called off with small and medium business association employees accusing the union of taking the entire country hostage for their own self-interest. Germany has also witnessed multiple walkouts across other public sectors, such as childcare and education, in the weeks that have gone by.
