Transport Strike Looms in Germany as Travelers Face Disruptions

Ger­many is fac­ing the prospect of a one-day trans­port strike that could crip­ple the coun­try’s trans­port net­works. More trav­el­ers have board­ed trains and planes on Sun­day, but Munich Air­port has already been closed due to the strike, and Frank­furt’s Lufthansa has delayed or can­celed flights at the coun­try’s largest air­port due to tech­ni­cal issues.

The ver.di union has begun a two-day strike at Munich Air­port, result­ing in no pas­sen­ger or car­go flights sched­uled for Sun­day and Mon­day. Around 1,500 con­nec­tions have been affect­ed, with only emer­gency human­i­tar­i­an flights tak­ing off and landing.

Ger­man trade unions have urged thou­sands of trans­port work­ers to strike for a day due to demands for steep wage increas­es that reflect per­sis­tent­ly high infla­tion. Ver.di has asked 120,000 work­ers to strike, includ­ing secu­ri­ty guards and ground staff work­ing at air­ports (except Berlin), local trans­port offi­cials in sev­en of the 16 states, port offi­cials, and some high­way offi­cials in tunnels.

The EVG union, which rep­re­sents many rail­road work­ers, is also call­ing for a strike among the 230,000 work­ers at Ger­many’s main rail oper­a­tor, Deutsche Bahn, which is government-owned.

Ver.di main­ly con­ducts wage nego­ti­a­tions for employ­ees of the Ger­man fed­er­al gov­ern­ment and munic­i­pal­i­ties, and this time, they are demand­ing a 10.5% wage increase. How­ev­er, employ­ers are offer­ing a lump sum of €2,500 ($2,700) for a total of 5% in two stages.

The unions have already orga­nized a series of one-day strikes on pub­lic ser­vices, includ­ing some air­ports and local trans­port. EVG is seek­ing a 12% hike, while Deutsche Bahn is offer­ing a 5% price increase and a lump sum pay­ment in two stages.

The strikes could sig­nif­i­cant­ly dis­rupt trans­port net­works, caus­ing incon­ve­nience to pas­sen­gers and car­go shipments.

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