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Strikes paralyze Germany, the first three months of the year more strikes than in the last 25 years

2024-03-25 13:20:10Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Strikes paralyze Germany, the first three months of the year more strikes than

Month-long strikes may be common in Spain, Belgium or France, where worker protests are a national sport, but Germany prides itself on quiet collective bargaining. But the first quarter of 2024 saw the most strikes in the country in the last 25 years. Strikers shut down railroads and airports. Doctors left the hospitals. Bank employees walked off the job for days. Jens Spann, deputy leader of the Christian Democrats in Parliament, denounced the "shock madness" that threatens to paralyze the country.

Germany, long the economic powerhouse on the Old Continent, is the slowest-growing country in the Eurozone, falling into recession last year and expected to stall this year. In 2023, the country showed the highest inflation of the last 50 years. The burden has fallen mainly on the shoulders of those with low and middle incomes. According to a recent study, as of 2022, their real wages have shrunk more than at any time since World War II.

At the same time, Germany is facing increasingly serious labor shortages and an aging population. Officials estimate that by 2035, 7 million workers will be missing from the economy.

This creates problems for the welfare system. For decades, the German economy was profitable thanks to its exports to China and cheap natural gas from Russia. Moscow's invasion of Ukraine forced Europe away from Russian fuels. Therefore the impact in Germany was worse than anywhere else in Europe, precisely because of its large industry, equivalent to 1/5 of its total production. About 4 in 10 households have little or no savings.

Strikers are also demanding better working conditions, shorter hours and the ability to schedule shifts and holidays earlier for a better work-life balance. Many point to a major problem as taxation, which taxes income more than private wealth, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income workers. Meanwhile, strike costs are piling up because key infrastructure is crumbling.


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