Germany paralyzes: Chaos from strike on railways, airports, ports and motorways

Chaos reigns in Germany as long-distance transport and transport in a large part of the country have hit the brakes. The problems are already visible since yesterday, Sunday (26/3) while more than 350,000 workers participate in the 24-hour warning strike on Monday (27/3) on railways, airports, buses, ports and motorways.

Ahead of the new round of negotiations with employers at the end of April, the Ver.di union and the EVG Railway Workers Union are demanding wage increases to counter the effects of inflation.

According to a statement from the company of German Railways (DB), since the start of the night shift yesterday no long-distance trains are running, while in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Saxony, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate the local routes, as well as bus traffic. Accordingly, the operation of the airports of Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Karlsruhe, Magdeburg and Munich has been paralyzed, where the strike is 48 hours and started yesterday with the cancellation of all scheduled flights. In the rest of the states, similar mobilizations are not taking place today, as different contracts are in force, which are not currently under negotiation.

Port workers are also participating in the strike, but also on the highways, where many tunnels will remain closed today. In ten out of the sixteen states, the ban on the movement of trucks came yesterday, in order to limit the problems in the supply of the market due to the strike, while in many road arteries of the country, serious problems are observed from early in the morning, as the workers are forced to use the private their car for their travels. Employers have, however, given the right to remote work especially for today, where this is possible.

“The willingness to participate in the strike is very high, as is the anger of the workers against the employers who keep them stagnant“, said Christian Loroch, member of EVG’s negotiating team. For today, as he said, as reported by the Athens News Agency, at least 50 protest rallies are planned throughout the country.

Ver.di is demanding pay rises of 10.5%, or at least 500 euros a month, and bigger bonuses for airport staff working night shifts and public holidays. “The strike is necessary in order to make it clear to the employers that we will insist on our demands. A substantial wage increase is a matter of survival for many thousands of workers,” said Ver.di head Frank Wernecke. EVG, on the other hand, is demanding 12% raises for rail workers. DB has so far countered with increases in two stages, totaling 5% and calling the move “completely disproportionate, groundless and unnecessary”.

“Passengers now need a quick solution, not a major strike,” said DB Head of Personnel Martin Zeller. On the trade union side, EVG chief Martin Burkert admitted that today’s strike would be a “sharp knife” for the traveling public, but assured that unions were using it responsibly and added that he expected a reasonable bargaining proposal from employers at the meeting which is scheduled for the end of April.

Referring to the protests, government spokesman Stephen Hebstreit said the right to strike was fundamental, but called on unions and employers “to find a sustainable solution so that the consequences of this strike are not so bad for the citizens of our country”. In a poll by the YouGov Institute, however, 55% of the respondents stated that they support the mobilization and consider it legitimate for the two major unions to coordinate their action.