After a successful strike carried out by trade unions in Germany, on Monday, to demand higher wages, observers expect more protests and escalation in the coming days, if the government does not respond to the demands.
Trade union representatives called for a new escalation of the protest movement during the coming period.
“The desire to strike is very strong, and there is a state of anger among workers because of the great inaction on the part of the employers,” said Christian Leroche, a member of the union’s negotiating team.
Will the France scenario be repeated?
- Similar to what is happening in France, a general strike called by the trade unions to pressure for higher wages paralyzed public transport in Germany, throughout the day Monday, amid expectations of an expected labor escalation unless the government responds to the demands.
- Arif Jabo, a researcher and political writer from Berlin, said, in an interview with “Sky News Arabia”, that the protest movement, which has led to almost complete paralysis in several vital sectors of the country, is liable to escalate if there is no dialogue with the government regarding the workers’ demands, describing what is happening as Bone Breaking Battle.
Reasons for the expected escalation
- Gabo believes that the recurrence of strikes aims to put pressure on the government to increase wages, and called for him the “Verdi” union, which represents the labor sectors in the government and private services sector, in addition to the railway and public transport union.
- The unions calling for the strike represent regarding 2.5 million employees and workers, in addition to 320,000 employees working in the railway sector.
- The strike, which was implemented on Monday, is comprehensive, meaning that the railways stopped throughout the country, whether long distances or short trips between cities, which include 7 states where transport is known to be very crowded.
How does the government deal with the demands?
- Gabo says that the government offered Verdi union workers a raise of regarding 5 percent, and a payment of 2,500 euros, but the union refused and insisted on escalation.
- Monday’s strike was very large and although it is not the first to demand a wage hike, it is the largest of its kind organized by trade unions since the 1990s.
- Discussions are expected to begin between the government and union representatives within hours to discuss solutions to the crisis.
- Gabo does not expect this round of negotiations to end the current state of escalation or succeed in finding special solutions in light of the unions’ adherence to the required increase, and the government’s inability to meet these demands.
* Jabo describes that the battle as “breaking bones” and will include a major escalation during the coming period on the part of the unions, which may resort to cooperation with other unions in order to expand the strike.
What happened?
* Workers at airports, railways, maritime transport, highway companies, and local transportation carried out a full-day strike starting from Sunday night, and continued until the early hours of Tuesday morning.
* This movement falls within the framework of increasing social tension in the largest European economy, where several strikes have been organized since the beginning of the year in various sectors, including schools, hospitals, the post office and local administrations.
* This “big strike” as German media dubbed it took place as prices in Germany had skyrocketed for over a year, with inflation running at 8.7 percent in February.
* The strike is the latest in months of strikes that have battered major European economies as rising food and energy prices hit living standards.
* Germany is among the countries with the highest inflation rate in the European Union.
