Last Monday, four German airports—including Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, and Bremen—suspended nearly all activities. By Friday, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, and Karlsruhe joined the disruption. Berlin, a hub with a history of checkpoint delays and long lines, halted operations for the second time this year, lasting almost two days without public notice. Frankfurt and Munich, the country’s busiest air hubs, also paused passenger traffic for a day in mid February, a day that affected about 137,000 travelers.
Flight suspensions and delays are driven by warning strikes called by Ver.di, the public sector union, along with other worker organizations. In airports, the impact is felt mainly among ground staff, in particular security personnel hired by local authorities.
Yet the disruption reaches beyond the skies. Passengers receive notices from airlines, rebook onto trains, or are steered toward alternative routes. Ver.di’s warning strike campaign extends past airports into government health facilities, nursing homes, hospitals, and postal services, spreading through different regions of the country in varied, partial forms.
Last Tuesday, with no strike at airports that day, roughly 13,000 workers in healthcare supported a strike day across hospitals, psychiatric clinics, and emergency services in eight of Germany’s sixteen federal states.
Notable differences
Ver.di demands cover roughly 2.5 million public sector workers, asking for a 10.5 percent wage increase or at least 500 euros more per worker each month. Employers, representing federal, state, and municipal authorities, reject this broad demand and propose a 3 percent salary rise plus a one time payment of 2,500 euros for a two year agreement.
There has been little progress in negotiations for weeks. The next round is scheduled to begin on the 25th in Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg, which borders Berlin. Citizens anticipate that departures or returns for the Easter holidays could be interrupted by cancellations or delays, casting a shadow over a post pandemic recovery in both the travel sector and everyday life.
Inflation
Ver.di’s wage claim may appear ambitious, but it aligns with today’s economic conditions. Inflation slowed to 8.6 percent year on year in December after peaking at 10.4 percent in October. Real wages experienced a three percent decline in 2022, a third consecutive drop noted by the Federal Statistical Office. In this context, the current wage demand is seen as moderate relative to the rising living costs faced by many workers.
So far, German citizens have endured these low-intensity strikes with a sense of resignation. They are arguably less jarring than the drastic disruption seen across neighboring France, where pension reform debates have sparked broader mobilization and a more visible paralysis on the roads.