Since midnight on Monday a major 24-hour strike has been triggered in transport throughout Germany. In these hours, in fact, all long-distance railway lines are closing and most of the regional trains and almost all German airports are on strike, with Berlin airport being a noteworthy exception.
The strike, the effects of which are far-reaching, is among the largest since the 1990s and is impacting railways, air traffic, buses and waterways across the country.
Unions are pushing for higher wages amid high inflation and rapidly rising energy prices.
For the 2.5 million federal and municipal employees, the Verdi union and the public employees association Dbb are asking for 10.5% more income. The German federal states affected by the so-called Superstreiktag (“superstrike day”) on Monday are Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony and large parts of Bavaria. Representatives from Verdi and Dbb will meet again with local officials on Monday for a third round of negotiations. The two parties are still distant, but an agreement is not excluded in the next few days.
The reasons according to the unions
The high inflation seen elsewhere last year hit many workers hard. This was stated by Ulrich Silberbach, of the Federation of the German civil service, regarding the demands of the unions in the transport sector, which have called a 24-hour maxi-strike which is paralyzing Germany. The unions are calling for a pay rise of at least 10.5% and have rejected employers’ offers of 5% in two stages, plus one-off payments. “We have seen declines in real wages and these need to be compensated for,” Silberbach told reporters in Berlin, adding that some members of his union in larger cities have to apply for state subsidies to afford rent. Silberbach said he hopes employers will raise their offer in upcoming talks, or else unions may have to consider an indefinite strike.
Deutsche Bahn: disproportionate strike
«Evg’s strike paralyzes the country, as seen at the main station in Berlin». This is what a representative of Deutsche Bahn said in his statement to the press, on the day of the mega-strike that is blocking public transport by air, sea and land. “This is an excessive and disproportionate strike, which will suffer millions of workers, many companies, and also the environment and climate protection,” he added. -. We asked the Evg union to quickly return to the negotiating table”. Deutsche Bahn will allow rail tickets to be used flexibly until April 4, precisely because of the inconvenience caused by the strike.
