Transport collapse expected due to strike in Germany

BERLIN, 27 March – RIA Novosti. A nationwide strike broke out in Germany on Monday, in which almost all public, intercity and short-distance transport in most federal states will be paralyzed within one day.

Earlier, the Verdi union and rail transport union EVG declared a strike Monday with traffic halts across Germany.

According to the German employment service, about 14 million people in the country – a third of its working and tax-paying citizens – live away from work, the so-called Pendler, which in German slang means a pendulum-like person. (German Pendel) is in constant motion from point A to point B and back.

This group of people often combines different means of transport – they take the train or train by car or bicycle, and then make several transfers within the framework of suburban and urban transport. From a legal standpoint, strikes are not a sufficient reason for absenteeism, so millions of Germans today will have to seek alternatives and leave their homes much sooner.

The strike will shut down public transport in almost all of the federal states, where Verdi and EVG have leverage and voting rights in municipal transport companies.

According to the unions themselves, these are the cities and counties of the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. Other federal states such as Bremen will also be affected by the strike, but to a lesser extent.

While a strike of only electric train workers is planned in Berlin, which will last between 4:00 and 15:00, the rest of the transport will not change due to the current agreement between unions and employers.

Deutsche Bahn announced last week that it will suspend all long-distance train services on Monday due to the nationwide strike, which also affects Monday night and early morning trains.

The company said in a statement that commuter traffic would be “heavily restricted” across the country. Deutsche Bahn has called for the postponement of scheduled flights if possible.

A car will be the only alternative for most workers in the country, but miles of traffic jams are expected due to strikes. Moreover, the partial blocking of high-speed roads by highway workers participating in the strike is not overlooked, the profile workers association reported.

In total, more than 600 flights across the country were canceled as a result of the strike, and inbound flights are expected to be canceled and delayed.

Because of this, all regular flights at Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg airports and most in Bonn-Cologne were cancelled. Airport operators announced the cancellations in advance after learning of the planned strike of security personnel and baggage handlers.

Although not involved in the nationwide strike, Berlin Airport is also expected to experience delays and cancellations due to the cessation of domestic flights.

The nationwide strike will end at 00:00 on Tuesday. With their actions, the unions are increasing the pressure ahead of the third round of negotiations with federal and local governments, which will begin Monday.

Unions are demanding at least a 10.5% increase in the wages of public transport workers.