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STRIKES

Could Germany soon see more airport strikes?

Narrowly averted over Easter, German airport strikes are again possible depending on the outcome of current wage negotiations among Lufthansa employees. What are their demands?

Published: 4 April 2024 17:04 CEST
File photo shows Lufthansa aircraft.
File photo shows Lufthansa aircraft. Photo: Image by Norbert from Pixabay

On Thursday, Lufthansa cabin crew union Ufo entered the next round of collective bargaining with their employer. They had entered a peace truce over the four-day Easter weekend but are now back at the bargaining table.

What are their demands? 

Ufo is calling for 15 percent more pay for the company’s approximately 18,000 flight attendants and their 1,000 colleagues at the regional subsidiary Cityline for a contract term of 18 months. 

The union also wants to land an inflation adjustment bonus of €3,000.

Lufthansa – who last month announced a doubling of its annual profits – has already announced salary increases of almost ten percent over 24 months as well as an immediate one-off payment of €3,000.

READ ALSO: Germany’s Lufthansa more than doubles profit as strikes cast shadow

Ufo last paralysed flight operations with a strike on March 12th, affecting over 200,000 passengers around Germany.

That means they have the potential to strike again, especially as Germany nears peak travel season. In May there are three long weekends on the calendar.

Could other airport staff also strike?

According to a wage agreement presented last Wednesday, the approximately 25,000 ground staff at Lufthansa are to receive salary increases averaging 12.5 percent over two years as well as an inflation compensation bonus of €3,000.  

However, the agreement is still subject to a consultation with Verdi members, who had previously voted in favour of indefinite strikes if their demands aren’t met.

This Friday will also see the start of arbitration for around 25,000 private security companies who check passengers, baggage, freight and staff at all airports around Germany – with the exception of Munich airport – on behalf of the Federal Police.

A wave of strikes

Germany has been hit by a wave of strikes the first three months of the year, affecting not only public transport but also schools and Kitas (daycares), supermarkets, doctors’ surgeries and public administration.

Deutsche Bahn reached a wage agreement with the GDL train drivers’ union last week, meaning that long-distance train travel will be strike free for at least the next couple of years.

However, other industries can and will continue to strike: on Thursday several transportation companies in eastern Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia announced strikes could occur soon due to unsuccessful negotiations, and this week Postbank, as well as regional Lidl and Kaufland supermarkets, were also hit by walkouts.

READ ALSO: Why Germany is being hit by strikes almost every day

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SCHOOLS

Teachers in Berlin urged to strike on Wednesday

Germany's classrooms are overcrowded amid a shortage of teachers across the country. A Berlin union has called for a walkout on Wednesday, after officials failed to respond to requests to negotiate on the topic.

Published: 21 May 2024 11:57 CEST
Teachers in Berlin urged to strike on Wednesday

The Education and Science Union (GEW) is calling for a teachers’ strike in Berlin on Wednesday, May 22nd.

The strike comes as the latest in a long series of teachers’ strikes in response to class sizes that have grown too large. As in years past, opponents to the strike have voiced concern that it may disrupt Arbitur examinations at some schools. Classes are canceled at some affected schools.

Speaking to Tagesspiegel on Monday, state student spokesman Aimo Görne called the strike “a disappointment”, and suggested that he had hoped a strike might come outside of the examination period this year. 

The GEW, however, suggests that the need for disruptive action is clear. 

What is the strike for smaller classes about?

GEW Berlin wants to achieve smaller class sizes in state schools.

Anne Albers, chief negotiator of GEW Berlin said in a statement published on the group’s website: “[Education workers] in the schools suffer every day with poor working conditions. Currently, more than 3,500 Berlin school classes are overcrowded, even by the standards of the Senate Administration.”

She added that the GEW’s demands can be met with “good political planning”.

Wednesday’s strike was announced one month prior, after Berlin’s Finance Senator did not respond to a renewed request for negotiations on the topic of classroom sizes.

Germany has suffered a growing shortage of teachers and school staff in recent years – an issue that is exacerbated by poor working conditions for teachers in overcrowded classrooms, as well as relatively low compensation.

Research by Robert Bosch Stiftung found that two-thirds of Germany’s part-time teachers would be willing to work more if their work would be fully compensated. Often teachers are only fully compensated for teaching hours, while necessary work done outside of the classroom (such as training, meetings and communication with parents) is under-estimated and underpaid.

READ ALSO: German part-time teachers ‘prepared to increase hours’ to combat staff shortages

The GEW’s strike on Wednesday also concerns other social workers in public schools. Along with reducing classroom sizes, the GEW demands that a ratio of school psychologists to students be set.

Is solidarity for striking teachers falling?

There have been 17 strike days for smaller classes in Berlin since 2021 – the latest strike lasted for three days in October of 2023.

While relevant agencies, along with parents and other school staff, were initially largely supportive of striking teachers, it seems that some are growing tired of the ongoing walkouts.

Guido Richter, co-chairman of the Berlin Primary School Principals’ Association, told Tagesspiegel that the GEW’s goal was “correct in perspective, but illusory at the moment”. He added that schools where teachers strike end up losing lessons. 

It’s hard to imagine how classroom sizes can realistically be reduced in the short term as the shortage of teachers has only grown more severe in recent years. But the GEW has published a 15-point plan on the topic, which it believes could help reduce Germany’s teacher shortage.

The plan’s points include: increasing compensation for teachers and pay raises for trainees, recognising foreign teachers’ qualifications, more IT and administrative support, and expanding the number of teacher training courses, among others.

But while the fact that Germany’s classrooms are overcrowded is largely agreed, whether or not striking helps is not.

Even among GEW members, it seems the tactic of warning strikes is somewhat controversial. In the last round of strikes, only one in 10 salaried teachers reportedly walked out.

READ ALSO: School drop-outs rise across Germany as resources and teachers spread thin

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