Germany’s largest labor union strike in decades has caused the largest economy in Europe to grind to a halt. According to foreign media outlets such as DW, AFP, and CNN, Ver.di, the second-largest public services union in Germany, and EVG, the railway and transport union, carried out a 24-hour general strike from midnight today, demanding wage increases that correspond to high inflation. Over 400,000 workers participated in the strike, with more than 3,000 from EVG. Ver.di described the strike as “the largest in decades.” Ver.di represents approximately 2.5 million public sector workers and is the second-largest organization after IG Metall, Germany’s largest union. EVG includes 230,000 railway and bus company workers, including the state-owned railway operator Deutsche Bahn.
The strike caused severe chaos as almost all of Germany’s airports, seaports, and some regional subway lines came to a standstill. Thousands of flights were canceled, and the railway network was paralyzed. The strike also affected the transport of goods in ports as harbor workers joined the strike. All major international airports in Germany, except for the Berlin-Brandenburg (BER) airport, were affected by the strike. Nationally, an estimated 400,000 flights were delayed or canceled.
Frankfurt Airport, the largest hub, experienced delays or cancellations for all inbound and outbound flights throughout the day. Munich International Airport had already suspended flight operations due to the strike the day before. Only Berlin’s BER airport operated normally, but domestic flights to other regions of Germany were disrupted. Hamburg Port, Germany’s largest port, also saw a cessation of large ships’ arrivals and departures due to the strike.
Deutsche Bahn took an exceptional measure to cancel all long-distance routes scheduled for the day. Commuter trains were also halted nationwide.
In seven of the sixteen federal states, local public transportation services, such as buses, trams, and subways, were mostly disrupted.
However, CNN reported that Germans widely supported the strike. According to a recent YouGov survey, 55% of respondents supported the strike, while 38% opposed it, and 8% did not respond.
The picture shows the empty platform of a subway station in Munich on the day of the largest labor union strike in decades, launched by German unions demanding a wage increase to catch up with inflation.