Despite worrying economic data, the belligerent Verdi services union has repeatedly called for strikes and demanded sharp wage increases. Also because job security is not a priority for the trade unionists. Citizens face nerve-wracking weeks.
Germany on the ground. Because the Verdi services union is calling on ground staff at several German airports to go on warning strikes, nothing is going to happen this Friday. The airports in Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg cease regular operations. Thousands of take-offs and landings - not possible. Short breaks planned over Shrove Monday somewhere in the warm burst.
The Verdi officials are flexing their muscles. They want to put pressure on the negotiations for public sector employees at the federal and local governments. Employees of the airport operators are often paid according to the collective agreements of the municipalities. And the negotiations for ground handling services and aviation security workers. Collective bargaining is also currently being conducted for these occupational groups.
Strikes work like this: They are supposed to exert maximum pressure. Everyone should feel how important it is that the system works. The fact that cable damage in a fiber optic network caused massive disruptions in large areas of German air traffic on Wednesday should not bother the Verdi negotiators. On the contrary. The loss of sales at Lufthansa and its subsidiaries, which were affected by the line interruption, should even increase the pressure in the Verdi logic.
At first glance, the alarm that Verdi is currently triggering may seem understandable. The trade unionists use the consequences of inflation as justification. Real wages shrank by 4.1 percent last year compared to 2021, for the third year in a row. The real purchasing power of workers is now as low as it was in 2014. The gains in prosperity over the past eight years have been erased.
In addition, important economic indices are pointing upwards. The IFO business climate index rises for the fourth time in a row. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment was recently positive again for the first time in a year. And the HDE consumption barometer is now showing the same level as before the Ukraine war. So it fits into the picture that large German corporations celebrated in rows about billions in profits. But that is deceptive.
At the moment, the mood seems much better than the actual situation. Retail sales shrank more than 5 percent in December compared to November. Sales in other important areas - the manufacturing industry, the construction industry and energy-intensive industries - have also recently declined significantly.
Verdi ignores that. The current propaganda is excessive. Even if the service union has always kept an eye on wage increases and less on employment guarantees - unlike industrial unions. Jobs in the public sector are rarely eliminated. In case of doubt, replacements for employees who have left the company will be cancelled. The distribution battle will be heated up in the coming weeks. And that is noticeable for everyone. With no other strike can such recognizable consequences be achieved as with work stoppages in daycare centers, railways or garbage disposal. A hot spring is in store for people in Germany.
