Life stopped in Germany: the strike has begun

Germany woke up Monday with the country’s biggest strike in recent years…

Due to rising inflation across the country, the country’s two largest unions went on strike. The strike, which will take place in airports, ports, railways, buses and subways, will last 24 hours, while the country’s public transport is paralyzed.

With the start of the strike in Germany, traffic also intensified.

With the strike initiated by the Verdi and EVG unions, which have approximately 3 million members, life in the country came to a standstill, while Germans who wanted to go to work and travel with their private vehicles formed long queues on the highways and the heavy traffic. was experienced. In the declarations of the union presidents, it was affirmed that the demand for an increase is “a matter of life or death.”

After the Russia-Ukraine war, Germany, which relied on Russia for natural gas, was hit hard and struggled with rising inflation. After the 9.3 percent rise in inflation in Germany, millions of workers wanted to increase the rates of increase.

The strike also affected scheduled flights.

Verdi participates in negotiations on behalf of approximately 2.5 million workers, while EVG is home to 230,000 workers. Verdi wants an increase of 10.5 percent or an increase of at least 500 euros, while EVG wants an increase of about 12 percent or a monthly increase of 650 euros.

Deutsche Bahn issued a statement on the issue, saying: “This strike is completely unnecessary, unfounded and excessive.”