Germany faces travel chaos as airport, rail workers strike

GERMANY’S air and rail services are grinding to a halt on Monday (Mar 27) during a one-day strike as workers join peers in France and the UK to fight for higher pay.

The industrial action will begin at midnight on Sunday for 24 hours and also affect some ports, with the Verdi and EVG transport and railway unions expecting severe disruption to travel, said a statement. Verdi is demanding a raise of 10.5 per cent for public sector workers.  

Major airports including Frankfurt and Munich will not operate on Monday. Frankfurt Airport also advised passengers changing planes to avoid the hub. Long-distance, regional and local trains operated by Deutsche Bahn and other railway will also come to a standstill, EVG said.

Verdi Hamburg on Saturday said it has made agreements with all affected companies in order to guarantee safe passage in the event of accidents, emergency landings or medical or patient transport.

“Numerous connections are already cancelled every day because trains are no longer running due to a lack of staff,” EVG head Martin Burkert said last Thursday. “This situation will continue to worsen because railway and transport companies will continue to bleed out personnel if wages are not significantly increased now.”

European workers in public service roles have staged repeated walkouts in recent weeks demanding better pay amid record inflation and a cost of living crisis. In France, President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform has prompted violent clashes. 

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The disruptions to French and German airports in particular hit the industry ahead of a peak travel period, with Easter approaching and travellers returning in droves after years of Covid-19 restrictions.

EVG does not plan any strike action over the Easter holidays, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported on Sunday (Mar 27). BLOOMBERG