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Thousands of workers strike in four states

Public workers in four of Germany’s states went on the latest in a series of warning strikes on Friday, hoping to put pressure on employers in an ongoing wage dispute.

Published: 27 February 2009 08:53 CET

Thousands of workers strike in four states

Photo: DPA

Tens of thousands of civil servants from different sectors in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony and Saarland took part in the temporary strikes before their union, Verdi, was to negotiate with the state wage association TDL on Saturday.

Verdi, along with unions GEW and dbb, represent 700,000 state workers who are demanding an 8 percent wage increase. The state employers have offered a 4.2 percent increase that would begin in July and last for the next two years.

Head of the dbb union Frank Stöhr told news agency DPA that his group was optimistic about the negotiations, but said the employers would have to make some compromises.

“And the unions also know there will have to be a compromise in the end,” he said.

Meanwhile deputy head of the employers‘ association Rainer Speer told DPA that his group would not be making a better offer and encouraged the workers’ unions to accept, saying it had been presented “without any tricks.”

The third round of negotiations between German states and unions ended without an agreement on February 14 in Potsdam. The TDL state wage alliance offered the wage increase of 4.2 percent – their first offer since negotiations began. But the union officials rejected the offer, scheduling more meetings for February 28 and March 1.

Unions have called for limited warning strikes across the country in recent weeks as the wage dispute escalates. Workers from two of Germany’s 16 federal states, Hesse and Berlin, are not participating in the strikes or negotiations.

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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