"The people are not only underpaid, they are hopelessly
overworked," Frank Werneke, head of the Verdi labour union, told
Bild am Sonntag.
The strikes, scheduled to primarily start just after
midnight and affect services throughout Monday, will be the
latest in months of industrial action and protests that have hit
major European economies as higher food and energy prices dent
living standards.
The Verdi union is negotiating on behalf of around 2.5
million employees in the public sector, including in public
transport and at airports. Railway and transport union EVG
negotiates for around 230,000 employees at Deutsche Bahn and bus companies.
Verdi is demanding a 10.5% wage increase, which would see
pay rising by at least 500 euros ($538) per month, while EVG is
asking for a 12% raise or at least 650 euros more per month.
"The strike is necessary to make clear to employees that we
will vehemently stand up for our demands," Werneke was quoted as
saying.
"It is a matter of survival for many thousands of employees
to get a considerable pay rise," he said.
($1 = 0.9295 euros)
(Reporting by Tom Sims and Klaus Lauer
Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
FRANKFURT, March 26 (Reuters) - A top union boss in
Germany justified a massive strike planned for Monday as a
"matter of survival" for many thousands of people fighting for
higher wages as inflation soars, according to an interview
published in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
The strike, Germany's largest in decades, is expected to
cause widespread disruption on railways and at airports in
Europe's largest economy.
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