BERLIN – The months-long chaos in Germany over pay issues which disrupted travel plans of thousands has finally ended.
Verdi and the Civil Service Federation have reached an agreement regarding additional pay, vacation days, and allowances, in what appears to be a sigh of relief for travelers and the German authorities.
The two German unions and an aviation security association in the industry have come to terms with the government regarding additional pay for night shifts, allowances for executives as well as Sundays and public holidays.
“The agreement poses major challenges for the employers’ side and will not be easy to implement in economic terms,” the association said in a statement.
The German media has been reporting on the issue and as per their estimates, around 700 flights were canceled due to strikes, affecting all Dusseldorf, Cologne, Bonn and Hamburg airports. The strikes affected nearly 100,000 passengers who were left high and dry.
The severity of the matter could be gauged from the fact that in general, the number of ‘victim passengers’ affected by strikes in the first three months of 2023 reached 900,000 passengers.
The strikes somewhat bought the aviation industry to its knees and wrecked the travel plans of all those who had just waded through the Covid-era and had planned vacations.
On the same lines, those in France have also been protesting for their rights, as the presidential candidate, Emmanuel Macron, proposed to reduce the pension age from 64 to 62, a statement which prompted thousands of workers to take to the streets to protest which impacted air traffic in general.
Global inflation is also affecting the workers in Germany despite the fact that it is a prosperous country amongst the EU countries.
Not only the aviation industry but the transportation network in Germany had also been crippled as rail workers went on strike last month over pay-raise demand. The rail strike was announced by the EVG union, which represents railway workers.
Germany’s national rail company, Deutsche Bahn had stated that all its long-distance connections and most commuter trains would be canceled until 1 p.m. The workers’ union is representing 230,000 workers and is expecting a 12% wage increase contrary to Deutsche Bahn which has put forth a pay increase of 5%, as well as one-off payments of up to €2,500.
