Public transport laid low by latest strikes – DW – 03/03/2023
Public sector workers in several German states slammed down tools in the latest so-called warning strike on Friday as negotiations between employers and a major union stalled.
Local public transport was the focus of the strikes in the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Lower Saxony, Bremen and Saxony.
Almost all local trams or trains and buses in the affected regions were not operational throughout the day.
During the winter, a number of public sector strikes took place across the country, affecting airports in particular, but also other services such as postal delivery.
The large Verdi union, Germany’s second-largest by membership, is trying to negotiate a pay rise of 10%, or at least €500 a month (around US$530), for around 2.4 million workers in a variety of jobs from bus and tram drivers to childcare workers and other. It also wants a promise of renewed talks 12 months later.
Unions say both unusually high inflation in 2022 and workers who are already underpaid are contributing to the demands. The latest round of talks, which began in January, ended last week with no progress.
Fridays for Future protests in parallel
With more people likely to be forced to use their cars, activist group Fridays for Future said it would organize protests across the country to coincide with the strikes.
The first signs of this could already be seen early on Friday, when the police in Bonn’s Weststadt announced: “People are currently blocking traffic on Adenauerallee in the direction of Bonn” and advised motorists to avoid the area if possible.
“Indeed, people are currently stuck to the roadway,” the police replied when asked if they were describing such a protest.
Although the group in Germany linked the activity to the strikes and said it would coordinate with unions, it also more broadly called for a “global climate strike” on Friday.
The head of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA), Steffen Kampeter, said it was a mistake to link the two actions. He said that while strikes are a legitimate tool in wage disputes, they should not be mixed up with broader political aims and campaigns.
Union leader calls criticism “complete nonsense”
The co-chair of the Greens, Ricarda Lang, spoke out in favor of the strike in an interview with the online news portal web.de. She said that rural areas in particular are having trouble recruiting bus drivers.
“They need good wages and better working conditions, for example a family-friendly shift system,” said Lang.
The General Secretary of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), Yasmin Fahimi, defended the wave of industrial action in a podcast by the Cologne City Gazette and the editorial network Germany.
She said it was “of course complete nonsense” to say the unions had lost their perspective, even as she cited the current economic difficulties.
“In every crisis, we keep hearing these calls for restraint, restraint, restraint — for collective responsibility,” Fahimi said. But at the end of these crises, the bottom line is always “the rich keep getting richer and the whole thing gets paid for by the workforce.”
She said this could not continue and that staff should not be allowed to “fall behind” in the face of rising inflation.
Fahimi also said it “makes sense” that Fridays for Future would protest in parallel. She said Verdi and the climate activist group have a common interest in “a massive expansion of local public transport” – albeit admittedly not this Friday in much of Germany.
msh/nm (AFP, dpa)
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