BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Portal) – Airports and bus and train stations across Germany stood idle on Monday morning, causing disruption for millions at the start of the workweek during one of the biggest strikes in decades as Europe’s biggest economy reels from inflation .
The 24-hour strikes, called by the Verdi union and rail and transport union EVG, were the latest in months of industrial action that has hit major European economies as higher food and energy prices hit living standards.
Two of Germany’s largest airports, Munich and Frankfurt, suspended flights, while long-distance rail services from rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DBN.UL) were suspended. Striking workers in red safety vests blew horns and whistles through an empty Munich train station.
Workers are pushing for higher wages to mitigate the impact of inflation, which hit 9.3% in February. Germany, which was heavily dependent on Russia for gas before the war in Ukraine, was hit particularly hard by higher prices as it sought new sources of energy, with inflation rates above the euro area average in recent months.
Ongoing cost pressures have prompted central banks to issue a series of rate hikes, although policymakers said it was too early to speak of a price-wage spiral.
The Verdi union negotiates for around 2.5 million public sector workers, including public transport and at airports, while the railway and transport union EVG negotiates for around 230,000 employees at the rail operator Deutsche Bahn and bus companies.
In the hours leading up to the strike, both sides held back, with union bosses warning that significant wage increases for thousands of workers were a “matter of survival”.
“Millions of passengers who depend on buses and trains are suffering from this excessive, exaggerated strike,” said a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn on Monday.
Verdi is asking for a 10.5% wage increase, which would result in a wage increase of at least €500 per month, while EVG is asking for a 12% increase, or at least €650 per month.
Stranded passengers expressed both sympathy and dissatisfaction with the strike action.
“Yes, it’s justified, but I’ve never been on strike in my life and I’ve been working for more than 40 years. At the same time in France they are constantly on strike over something,” said passenger Lars Böhm.
MORE STRIKES
The EVG chairman Martin Burkert told the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung on Monday that the employers had not yet made a viable offer and warned of further strikes, including over the Easter holidays.
Deutsche Bahn said on Sunday the strike was “completely excessive, groundless and unnecessary,” and employers are warning that higher wages for transport workers would mean higher fares and taxes to make up the difference.
Monday’s strikes are part of waves of disruptive labor strikes in wealthy European countries in recent months, including France and Britain, where hundreds of thousands of transport, healthcare and education workers are pushing for higher wages.
Protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms have sparked the worst street violence in years in France.
Commerzbank chief economist Jörg Kramer said the economic impact of Monday’s strike has been limited so far, but that could change if the strikes last for a longer period.
“The strike will strain people’s nerves,” he said. “But from an economic perspective, losses are likely to be limited to the transportation industry as factories continue to operate and many employees will work from home.”
Bundesbank boss Joachim Nagel said last week that Germany must avoid a price-wage spiral.
“To put it bluntly, to prevent inflation from squeezing through the labor market, workers need to accept reasonable wage increases and companies need to accept reasonable profit margins,” he said.
“Despite signs of second-round effects, we have not yet observed any destabilizing price-wage spiral in Germany.”
Reporting by Klaus Lauer, Tom Sims, Balazs Koranyi, Christoph Steitz Sarah Marsh, writing by Miranda Murray and Matthias Williams; Edited by Bernadette Baum and Ed Osmond
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Tom Sims