The union EVG, which represents many employees in train traffic, is behind the strike, together with the union Verdi, which in turn represents employees at airports, ports and in local transport throughout the country. All in all, around 350,000 people are called to a one-day strike on Monday, according to the unions.
– The strike will have a massive effect. We are aware of this and it is necessary, Verdi chairman Frank Werneke said when the initiative was presented on Thursday.
Wants salary increases above 10 percent
The reason for the strike is ongoing wage negotiations between the union and the employer. To match the high inflation, Verdi has demanded increases of 10.5 percent for its members, while EVG is demanding 12 percent. The employers’ bid is 5 percent plus a lump sum.
– We are a group that literally moves this country forward and are paid far too poorly to do so, says Werneke to the German Deutsche Welle.
In February, the annual inflation rate in Germany was measured at 8.7 percent, AP writes.
“Unnecessary and disproportionate”
The consequences of the strike are expected to be extensive in basically all types of traffic. Frankfurt Airport, which is Germany’s busiest, writes on Twitter that it will suspend all regular passenger traffic.
The train company Deutsche bahn, in turn, has canceled all long-distance traffic on Monday and is urging passengers to reschedule their journeys. The company’s HR manager describes the strike as “excessive and unnecessary”.
– In principle, nothing will be possible in the train traffic on Monday, says Seiler.
The strike is described as the biggest in Germany in over 30 years, but it is not the first time transport workers have taken to the tool. Even in February German train and air traffic stopped after Verdi members went on strike.
