Stock Market News

In inflation-hit Germany, massive strike over pay to cripple transport

2023.03.26 22:26


© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Planes are parked at the Munich Airport during a strike called by the German trade union Verdi over a wage dispute, in Munich, Germany, March 26, 2023. REUTERS/Lukas Barth

By Klaus Lauer and Tom Sims

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A massive strike in Germany was set to begin early Monday, crippling mass transport and airports in one of the biggest walkouts in decades as Europe’s largest economy reels from soaring inflation.

In the hours running up to the strike, both sides dug in their heels, with union bosses warning that considerable pay hikes were a “matter of survival” for thousands of workers and management calling demands and the resulting action “completely excessive”.

The strikes, which were scheduled to mainly start just after midnight and affect services throughout Monday, are the latest in months of industrial action that has hit major European economies as higher food and energy prices dent living standards.

Germany, which was heavily dependent on Russia for gas before the war in Ukraine, has been particularly hard hit by higher inflation as it scrambled for new energy sources, with inflation rates exceeding the euro-area average in recent months.

German consumer prices rose more than anticipated in February – up 9.3% from a year earlier – pointing to no let-up in stubborn cost pressures that the European Central Bank has been trying to tame with a series of interest-rate increases.

It has been a painful adjustment for millions of workers throughout the country as costs of everything from butter to rents rise after years of fairly stable prices.

“It is a matter of survival for many thousands of employees to get a considerable pay rise,” Frank Werneke, head of the Verdi labour union, told Bild am Sonntag.

France has also faced a series of strikes and protests since January as anger mounts over the government’s attempt to raise the state pension age by two years to 64.

But officials in Germany have made clear that their fight is only about pay.

The Verdi union is negotiating on behalf of around 2.5 million employees in the public sector, including in public transport and at airports. Railway and transport union EVG negotiates for around 230,000 employees at railway operator Deutsche Bahn and bus companies.

Verdi is demanding a 10.5% wage increase, which would see pay rising by at least 500 euros ($538) per month, while EVG is asking for a 12% raise or at least 650 euros per month.

Deutsche Bahn on Sunday said the strike was “completely excessive, groundless and unnecessary”.

Employers are also warning that higher wages for transport workers would result in higher fares and taxes to make up the difference.

($1 = 0.9295 euros)

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 98,096.28 0.27%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,382.15 1.11%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.06%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 253.48 1.50%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 660.67 0.05%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.45 0.93%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.423124 3.40%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.07%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 1.05 1.64%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,382.64 1.01%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.209319 2.69%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 41.59 2.28%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.531322 10.11%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.11 4.80%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000025 4.70%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,995.15 1.52%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 97,553.14 0.51%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.88 2.97%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 18.13 1.79%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 511.76 1.18%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,378.46 1.18%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.41 1.61%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 7.08 9.56%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.00002 3.41%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.64 0.08%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 96.70 4.59%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 12.33 5.47%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.91 0.68%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,556.91 1.39%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.142008 6.01%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.36 3.89%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.19%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.187198 5.33%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.56097 3.95%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 28.66 4.84%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 8.02 0.98%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.50 0.69%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 530.72 1.35%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.03%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.152374 0.84%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.45 1.20%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.852837 3.65%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.09%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.042989 0.32%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000046 3.85%
blockstack
Stacks (STX) $ 2.28 7.79%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.61 5.46%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 56.31 4.24%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.62 6.66%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.68 1.64%