In several cities in Germany, it could be difficult to get to work or appointments on Friday: The Ver. di union wants to largely bring local public transport (ÖPNV) to a standstill in many places.
As the union previously announced, around 80 cities in 15 federal states and 40 districts are affected. There will only be no actions in Bavaria because there are currently no collective negotiations taking place there. In Berlin, the strike should also be limited to the morning. Passengers in the regions have to prepare for extensive restrictions on bus, road and subway traffic.
In Hamburg, ground handling service providers are supposed to stop work from 3 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. The service providers Groundstars, Stars and Cats are affected. According to Ver.di, their employees are responsible, among other things, for loading and unloading the aircraft, providing technical equipment, pushing the aircraft back, baggage handling, aircraft de-icing and cleaning the interior of the machines.
There could be further strikes at airports in the coming period: Ground staff could stop work in the collective bargaining dispute between the Ver.di Union and Lufthansa, said Ver.di negotiator Marvin Reschinsky. »A strike is very likely. The only question left is whether it will take place before or after the third round of negotiations scheduled for February 12th.
Ver.di is demanding 12.5 percent more salary, at least 500 euros per month, for a twelve-month contract for the approximately 25,000 employees of Lufthansa AG, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo. The decision on a strike should be made next Monday. (Read here where exactly the Ver.di railway workers will be on strike.)
A strike is also in the air among Lufthansa’s 19,000 flight attendants. The cabin union UFO broke off negotiations this week because of an offer that was too low, which would provide around three percent more money per year. A Lufthansa spokesman said that this was only the initial offer, which had been substantially further developed. “We, therefore, lack any understanding for the demolition at this point in time.” The union should return to the negotiating table.