German airport workers, bus drivers, and train station operators staged one of the country's biggest strikes in decades.
The 24-hour "warning" strike was called by two major unions that are pushing for pay hikes for their members ahead of negotiations.
Employers have offered 5% wage hikes over a 27-month period, along with one-off payments of €2,500 ($2,698) to workers.
- Unions demand double-digit pay hikes to keep up with higher consumer prices, which have jumped 9.3% in the past year.
- Verdi, one of the main unions, is negotiating on behalf of ~2.5 million public sector employees.
- Nearly 1,200 flights for ~160,000 passengers were canceled in Frankfurt on Monday.
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- Joachim Nagel, the head of the German Bundesbank, said last week that to put downward pressure on inflation, workers need to "accept sensible wage gains" and firms accept "sensible profit margins."
