It is said to be the biggest strike in recent years – at least when it comes to the Verdi union. The doors of numerous municipal companies in Bavaria are likely to remain closed on Tuesday. Munich in particular is affected. Two days later, passengers are threatened again at the airport in the state capital: there is a six-hour warning strike on Thursday.
Munich daycare centers, job centers, baths affected by the strike
The employees of all administrative areas of the city of Munich are called on Tuesday to strike. In addition, there are the employees of the municipal day-care centers, citizens’ offices, job centres, employment agency, as well as the pools, garbage disposal and street cleaning. How many facilities actually remain closed depends largely on how many workers will take part in the strike. The district offices as well as cities and communities in the surrounding counties are also on the strike list. Local public transport is not affected. In the morning, the strikers want to meet at Munich’s Marienplatz for a rally.
Strikes here too: culture in Nuremberg, local transport in Würzburg
In order to increase the pressure on employers, there are 48-hour warning strikes in the public sector in Franconia. In Nuremberg, the municipal baths will be closed all day on Wednesday. There are no events or film screenings in the Filmhaus and Künstlerhaus in the art-culture quarter on Wednesday. The city administration of Nuremberg advises its citizens to find out on the Internet before visiting a municipal cultural institution whether it is affected by the strike.
In Upper Franconia, the city and municipal utilities of Bayreuth and Kulmbach as well as the cities of Pegnitz and Pottenstein are affected by the strike. In addition to Bayreuth, there will also be failures and restrictions on garbage collection in Bamberg and Forchheim on Wednesday. In addition, the strikes in bus transport in Bayreuth will result in restrictions and cancellations.
The center of the strikes in Lower Franconia on Tuesday is the region around Schweinfurt. There, for example, the Leopoldina Hospital in Schweinfurt and the Werneck District Hospital are on strike. In the city of Schweinfurt, there will be restrictions on bus traffic, among other things, and there will also be irregularities in garbage disposal. There are also in Würzburg, where the city cleaners are also on strike on Tuesday.
Larger strikes will only occur in the city and region of Würzburg on Wednesday. Then there are no trams, the buses run much less frequently. Strikes are also called for the Würzburg König-Ludwig-Haus, the Sparkasse Mainfranken and the job centers in Würzburg, Main-Spessart and Kitzingen.
Restrictions due to strikes also in the Upper Palatinate
In the Upper Palatinate, too, federal and municipal employees have been called on to go on warning strikes. Social and educational services in the Regensburg area are affected. There should be restrictions or closures in daycare centers, after-school care centers and after-school care. Precautions have already been taken by the city of Regensburg to ensure that the children are cared for in municipal day-care centers as far as possible.
Employees of the Regensburg administration are also called to the warning strike. According to the city of Regensburg, it cannot estimate how many are taking part, but it assumes that there will be restrictions in the departments and that the municipal garbage disposal and the municipal recycling center will also be affected by the walkout. The Stadtwerke expect massive effects on bus traffic. In addition, the Danube Arena and the baths will remain closed.
Verdi is also planning warning strikes in the Straubing and Passau area
On Tuesday, the labor dispute will focus on the Straubing region and on Wednesday on the Passau region, as the union announced on request.
Specifically, on Tuesday, colleagues in the Straubing city administration, at the Straubinger Stadtwerke, at the Bundeswehr administration in Bogen and in the district office of Straubing-Bogen were called on to go on warning strikes.
On Wednesday, among other things, the city administration, the district office and the savings bank in Passau are to be struck, as well as the local administrations of Hauzenberg, Waldkirchen and Hengersberg. The employees at the Passau Clinic are called on to go on warning strikes on Wednesday and Thursday.
According to Verdi, the colleagues want to demonstrate for their demands in Passau from 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning, and Verdi has registered a rally in front of the Passau town hall for 11 a.m.
Warning strikes in hospitals: in Munich and throughout Bavaria
There are also plans to strike in the healthcare sector: for example at the locations of the Munich Clinic, the Isar Amper Clinic in Haar, Munich and Fürstenfeldbruck and the Helios Amper Clinic in Dachau and Indersdorf. Here, in particular, the nursing staff, therapists and the patient transport service are called on to go on strike. As recently, employees of Medbo in Regensburg and the clinics in North Upper Palatinate should also take part in the warning strike. Emergency arrangements were made there. The employees of the Bayreuth Clinic have also been called on to go on strike.
Employees of the Klinikum Fürth, the Nürnberg-Stift, the Schwabach, Roth, Nürnberger Land hospitals, the district of Bad Windsheim and the Dr. Erler Kliniken as well as the Nuremberg Clinic and the service company KNSG will be on strike all day on Tuesday and Wednesday. The employees of the district clinics in Central Franconia and the ANRegiomed clinic group go on a 48-hour warning strike one day later – on Wednesday and Thursday.
Munich Airport: Longer waiting times on Thursday
Meanwhile, travelers at Munich Airport are threatened with new problems this week. Verdi is calling on the employees of the security company to go on a six-hour strike on Thursday. The strike is expected to last from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Because of the strike, longer waiting times are to be expected, the union said. Accordingly, passengers should come to the airport earlier. Don’t count on flight cancellations.
Verdi demands 10.5 percent more wages
The Verdi union is demanding 10.5 percent more wages for federal and local employees, but at least 500 euros more per month. In the last round of negotiations, the employers gradually offered five percent more wages – for a total period of 27 months, plus a one-off payment of 2,500 euros. In the coming week, collective bargaining will enter the next round.
A collective bargaining agreement of ten percent more wages for public sector employees could prevent society from further drifting apart, said the Bavarian district manager of the Verdi union, Luise Klemens, in the “Tagessprach” on Bayern 2. “During the pandemic we experienced a major redistribution : People with very high incomes, with very high profits and reserves have become richer, many others have become poorer, and that is tearing society apart.” That’s why a good degree is now needed, and there is enough money, because the income of the municipalities has also increased in recent years.
On the other hand, Uwe Brandl, President of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities and Mayor of Abensberg in the Kelheim district, said that the municipalities were short of funds because the tasks were increasing. For Brandl, a wage agreement over a longer period would be of great interest. “Every percentage point increase in wages in Bavaria means 150 million euros more burden.” Nationwide, the costs would be eleven billion for the German Association of Towns and Municipalities.
