Monday promises to be a tough day for Europe’s largest economy. Major airports, including Frankfurt and Munich, are closed. Frankfurt Airport advises passengers to transfer elsewhere to avoid the hub. Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance, regional and local trains will also stop. Deutsche Bahn’s board does not agree with the planned strike. This would be completely unnecessary, Reuters reports.
High inflation
Not everyone agrees. A senior union leader in Germany justifies the massive strike. According to him, for many employees it is a “matter of survival”. Thousands of people are forced to fight for higher wages as they are wracked by high inflation. He reports it in the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
“People are not only underpaid, they are hopelessly overworked.”
The Verdi union is asking for a 10.5% wage increase, which will increase wages by at least 500 euros a month, while EVG is asking for a 12% increase, or at least 650 euros more a month. “People are not only underpaid, they are hopelessly overworked,” Frank Werneke, head of the Verdi union, told Bild am Sonntag.