Staff at public transport facilities in Germany stage a walkout amid strike as two of the largest unions demand pay-rise for workers
In a calculated move all the workers at airports, ports, railways, buses, and subways walkout shortly after midnight. This will result in a 24-hour transport stoppage on Monday. Two of the country’s largest unions are on a strike demanding higher wages for workers amid rising living costs throughout the country. Other small-scale walkouts have been staged by public sector unions but this one is set to be the biggest one in the country yet impacting the whole of public transport sector in Germany.
The public-sector union Verdi represents around 2.5 million employees working in public transportation and airports. The union Eisenbahn-und Verkehrsgewerkschaft (EVG) represents 230,000 employees at Deutsche Bahn which is Germany’s national rail operator and other bus companies. This strike is in hope of increasing pressures on the employers preceding another round of pay-rise negotiations.
The chief of Verdi, Frank Werneke used the phrase “matter of survival” to describe the issue of increasing pay-rise for thousands of employees. He also stated that the people are not just underpaid but also hopelessly overworked. Verdi seeks to remedy this by securing a 10.5% rise in wages for the staff and the union EVG is negotiating for a 12% rise.
Transport sector paralyzed
The planned strike is bringing all operations to a standstill. Train and flight cancellations have already begun, anticipating an extension of this strike. The Deutsche Bahn has announced that long-distance trains will not be running and will be completely discontinued till Tuesday. Regional and local trains in seven of Germany’s sixteen federal states including some of the country’s most populous cities.
The second busiest hub in Germany, Munich airport has announced that there will not be any passenger flights on Monday. The airports in Stuttgart and Bremen have also declared cancellations, other airports are likely to follow this move.
Opposition by employers
This demand for worker’s pay-rise has been criticized as “groundless and unnecessary” and also “completely excessive” by the national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn. The walkout has resulted in multiple flights being disrupted. Reports from the airport association of Germany estimate that about 380,000 flight passengers would be affected by this nation-wide strike and called this measure “beyond imagination and justification.
Representatives of other employers condemn this strike stating that it is at risk of alienating the public due to the unreasonable demands of the union. Despite such reservations from some employers, few unions have succeeded in achieving 11.5% pay-rise for postal workers in early March. This achievement is the first step towards improving workers wages and work conditions in Germany.
Reason for strike
Similar to many other countries, Germany is facing surges in inflation rates causing energy and food costs to rise due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to data from World data info the average inflation rate from 1960 to 2021 was 2.6%, but for February 2024 the inflation rate was 8.7%. This is majorly caused by energy price hike due to Russian oil exports being disrupted.
The cost of electricity, housing, natural gas, heating oil along with basic consumer prices have hiked up. This radical increase has led to difficult living situations especially for underpaid transport and public sector workers in Germany. The employers have subsequently refused to increase worker’s wages amidst this rising inflation calling the demand a baseless and illogical move to alienate the public despite millions of the working population being affected. Hence the country-wide strikes have begun demanding better pay.
