OUR Germany expected to be paralyzed by traffic chaos tomorrow due to the historic scale of the German railway workers’ strike, on all local modes of transport (suburban, metro, tram, buses), on German motorways, and at many German airports, large and small (Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Bonn-Cologne, Dortmund, Leipzig, Erfurt, Dresden).

Already today, problems have begun in the movement of German trains throughout Germany, as well as at Munich Airport, tens of thousands of passengers have already suffered in their movement. And at Frankfurt International Airport – the largest airport in Germany and the third largest in Europe – problems are already appearing today.

German ports and commercial transport have also suffered from the pan-German strike, and authorities expect financial losses. However, several German states, from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg to North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, are expected to apply more relaxed rules on truck exemptions to avoid further disruption to supply chains.

Germany like France?

The German trade union Verdi, which represents millions of public sector workers, as well as the powerful German railways union EVG, are adamant and continue to push for higher wages.

In particular, they demand an immediate increase of 10.5%, that is, an additional 500 euros per month, as well as additional one-time benefits of about 2,500 euros due to the inflationary crisis – with inflation in Germany at 8.7%, according to the latest official data. for February. So far, negotiations on a new collective labor agreement on the part of employers, as well as on individual agreements in relation to workers in local and regional transport, have not been crowned with success.

However, the German trade unions say they are not going to back down, but instead step up mobilization in the next period if their demands are not met. However, the employers’ side, in particular the German Airports Association ADV, fears an escalation of the strike in the next period “according to the French model”, while the Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Bahn, criticizes the pan-German strike as “absurd and unnecessary”.

It is worth noting that the pressure on the German government to raise wages has long been mounting due to many work stoppages in other sectors as well, from teachers in schools, kindergartens and kindergartens to hospital workers and welfare and care workers.

Source: Deutsche Welle.