German farmers started the biggest strike in German history.
Source: Laszlo Pinter /AP/FoNet
Angry farmers, opposing Berlin’s plans to cut tax breaks for agricultureused tractors to block roads across Germany on Monday, starting a series of strikes that will plunge the country deeper into discontent.
In Berlin, dozens of tractors and trucks stationed in the city center honked their horns in anger at the start of a planned week of protests. Workers in sectors across Germany, from metallurgy and transport to education, in recent weeks they have turned to industrial action.
Wage talks have taken a difficult turn as Europe’s biggest economy grapples with weak growth and households struggle with sharply increased prices.
Rail workers will be next, as they begin a three-day strike on Wednesday. Unions are demanding wage increases to compensate for months of high inflation.
Farmers began gathering Sunday evening at the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin’s government district. The agricultural sector is under attack due to the government’s plans to withdraw tax breaks. Farm vehicles blocked city centers including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Bremen, with up to 2,000 tractors registered for each protest.
CHAOS IN GERMANY CONTINUES: Farmers furious, collapse at the borders! These are requests for the Government
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Outside the cities, protesters targeted highway ramps. The protest also caused disruptions at Germany’s borders with France, Poland and the Czech Republic, which increased traffic at the crossings, Aljazeera reports.
Thousands of demonstrators have already descended on Berlin to protest planned subsidy cuts in December. The rallies prompted the government to partially back off the cuts on January 4.
It is now planned that the agricultural vehicle tax discount will remain in placewhile the diesel subsidy would be phased out over several years rather than being abolished immediately, the government said.
Farmers, however, said the move did not go far enough and called on Berlin to completely reverse the plans, which were announced after a court ruling forced the government to find savings in the 2024 budget.
(World)