On Monday, February 2nd public transport across Germany ground to a halt due to a strike called by one of the country’s biggest unions in a dispute over pay and conditions.
The Verdi union is pushing for shorter shifts for public transport workers and higher premiums for working evenings and weekends. It has called on almost 100,000 staff across 150 transport companies to participate in the stoppage. In some states, the union is also pushing for pay increases of around 10%.
Verdi spokesman Andreas Schackert told public broadcaster ZDF:
If we don’t go on strike for better conditions, the jobs will remain unattractive, as we have seen in the past few years.
The strike affects metro services, buses and trams in all states except Lower Saxony. However, mainline and regional trains are still running.
