Germany: Public transport workers launch national strike

Local public transport workers in Germany began a new 24-hour strike on Friday, representing a nightmare for commuters and morning commuters.

Industrial action supported by the Verdi union led to the cancellation of buses and trams in all German federal states except Bavaria.

Verdi encourages better working conditions for public transport workers, among other demands. Verdi is talking to transit authorities amid the industrial action.

The Verdi union represents about 90,000 transportation workers in about 130 municipal transit agencies.

The climate group Fridays for Future Germany also supported the action on public transport.

The ground staff at Hamburg Airport also take measures

Meanwhile, ground staff at Hamburg airport were also called by Verdi to go on strike. This has canceled some flights at the airport in Germany’s second-largest city, although operations remain largely normal for now.

Hamburg Airport has asked travelers to plan enough time before their flight departs due to the strike. Passengers are advised to fly with hand luggage only and keep the number of check-in bags to a minimum.

The strike at Hamburg airport comes after security staff at German airports across the country stopped work on Thursday. In addition to Hamburg, Frankfurt, Bremen, Berlin, Leipzig, Cologne/Bonn and other cities were affected, disrupting the travel of more than 200,000 passengers.

Yesterday’s airport strike, however, did not affect Munich and Nuremberg airports in southern Germany. Security employees work in the public sector and adhere to a different union contract than other airports.

wd/rt (Reuters, dpa)