Airports and bus and train stations across Germany were at a standstill on Monday (March 27), causing disruption for millions at the start of the working week during one of the largest walkouts in decades as Europe's biggest economy reels from inflation, Reuters reports.
The 24-hour strikes called by the Verdi trade union and railway and transport union EVG were the latest in months of industrial action which has hit major European economies as higher food and energy prices dent living standards.
Two of Germany's largest airports, Munich and Frankfurt, suspended flights, while long-distance rail services were cancelled by rail operator Deutsche Bahn DBN.UL. Striking workers wearing red high-visibility jackets blew horns and whistles through an empty Munich train station.
Employees are pressing for higher wages to blunt the effects of inflation which reached 9.3% in February.
“A lot of people, also those working in the public service sector, suffer from high energy prices and the high inflation these days and that is why it is our job to come to a good conclusion,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters.
Faeser, who leads the negotiations for the government, added “our public administration employees are doing a very good job and so I am confident that we will come to a good solution this week.”
Germany, which was heavily dependent on Russia for gas before the war in Ukraine, has been particularly hard hit by higher prices as it scrambled for new energy sources, with inflation rates exceeding the euro-area average in recent months.
