The word “warning strike” actually sounds quite harmless. But what is threatening in Germany on Monday is apparently intended less as a warning. Rather, it seems like a massive declaration of war on the employers of the country’s infrastructure providers.
The services union Verdi and the railway and transport union (EVG) want to use a joint action to emphasize their demands in various collective bargaining rounds. “This day of strike will have a massive effect,” said Verdi boss Frank Werneke in the run-up to the work stoppages. “The all-day strike usually begins on the night of March 26/27 at midnight and ends at midnight,” said both unions.
Verdi is demanding 10.5 percent and at least 500 euros more salary per month for around 2.5 million public sector employees. The railway and transport union (EVG), which is currently in collective bargaining with Deutsche Bahn and around 50 other companies, wants to push through wage increases of a total of twelve percent over a period of one year, but at least 650 euros. In order to push through these double-digit demands, the organizations are threatening the largest strikes in many years. These places and services will be affected on Monday if the work stoppages go ahead as planned.
The long-distance traffic of Deutsche Bahn will be completely stopped on Monday. This is not only bad news for people in Lower Saxony and Bremen, where the Easter holidays start on the same day. Countless holidaymakers, commuters and business travelers will not be able to use the trains nationwide on Monday.
The railway announced in advance that there would hardly be any trains in regional traffic either. According to the EVG union, trains from the railway companies Transdev, AKN, Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen, erixx, vlexx, eurobahn and Die Länderbahn do not run either. Even with the S-Bahn, nothing should work nationwide.
Observers advise travelers to reach their destinations as early as possible on Sunday. According to the EVG union, impairments are possible as early as Sunday evening because some shifts start on Sunday and continue into early Monday. The same applies to Tuesday: even on the day after the big warning strikes, the consequences of the walkout should still be noticeable.
According to Bahn, anyone who can postpone their trip has the option of either canceling tickets booked for Monday or Tuesday free of charge or using them flexibly until next Saturday.
In the seven federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and in parts of Bavaria, local public transport will also be on strike on Monday. According to ZDF, Verdi had already brought buses, trains and trams to a standstill in these countries at the beginning of March.
The airport association ADV has already calculated that 380,000 business travelers and holidaymakers will not be able to take their flights as a result of the strike.
According to its own assessment, Frankfurt Airport will not be able to offer regular flight operations on Monday. The operating company Fraport warned that passengers should not come to the airport. Changing trains at Germany’s most important hub will also not be possible. The airport did not comment on whether there could be restrictions on Sunday.
At Munich Airport, it is expected that the effects of the warning strike will already be apparent on Sunday. The airport management estimates that regular flight operations will not be possible on Sunday and Monday.
According to the ADAC, the airports in Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Dresden and Dortmund are also on strike. Hamburg Airport announced that there would be no regular departures from 10 p.m. on Sunday until the end of operations on Monday, as many service providers were called on to go on strike. Failures are also likely on the incoming flights.
Observers fear that many commuters drive by car to get to work after all. It is feared that some motorway tunnels will also be affected by the strikes, since Verdi’s motorway company is also on strike. According to reports from Thursday, however, this is determined to keep the tunnels open, including the Elbe tunnel in Hamburg. The motorway company recently announced that emergency service agreements had been made.
The massive traffic warning strike should also affect the waterways and ports in this country. As the German Press Agency reports, locks are to be struck on individual waterways. The Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration is therefore expecting delays in shipping throughout Germany. Observers fear that individual raw materials cannot be transported as planned.
According to the NDR, the port of Hamburg fears that container shipping will come to a temporary standstill because, according to Verdi, things will not continue “in certain areas”. The ships may not be able to enter or leave the port, it said. There could also be delays in loading and deleting.
Because of another warning strike, there were no pilot boats in the port from Wednesday evening until Friday morning. The Port of Hamburg is suffering or rather “strike tested” these days.
Sources: ZDF, NDR, Fraport, ADAC, “Tagesschau.de” / with material from dpa and AFP