News / Germany

Airport workers to go on strike in Germany

Wednesday, 15 February 2023 10:55 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 15 February 2023 11:01 AM ]

Employees hold a banner while protesting over pay demands during a general strike at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), in Schoenefeld near Berlin, Germany January 25, 2023. (Photo by Reuters)

German trade union Verdi has announced that airport workers will go on a one-day warning strike as talks with businesses to end a pay dispute fail to reach an agreement.

Verdi announced on Tuesday that it was extending the wage dispute in the public sector to airports in major cities across Germany.

Airports in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Hanover, and Bremen will come to a standstill on Friday as ongoing negotiations have not produced results.

In the negotiations with the employees, the workers' representatives are asking for a 10.5-percent raise for 12 months for the approximately 2.5 million employees in the public sector of the federal and municipal governments.

However, the employers have so far rejected their request.

Workers in the European Union (EU)'s strongest economy are grappling with rampant inflation, particularly soaring energy prices. EU economies were impacted after Brussels decided to stop buying Russian oil and gas over the Ukraine crisis.

Meanwhile, Western support for Ukraine continues even as Ukraine's allies admit being strained by increased demand for assistance.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Monday that Ukraine was using up ammunition far faster than Western allies could provide, putting pressure on these countries.

“The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions and depleting allied stockpiles,” Stoltenberg said as NATO leaders met in Brussels to discuss providing weapons and munitions, and possibly fighter jets, to Ukraine.

At the same time, Ukraine is pressuring its Western backers for stepped-up support before an impending Russian offensive.

Ukraine's Zelensky urges allies to speed up assistance as Russia gains ground

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on its Western allies to speed up the pace of supplying weapons to his country, as Russia continues to gain fresh ground along Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday urged Kiev's Western supporters to speed up the pace of supplying weapons to his country, as Russia is gaining fresh ground in the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine.

Russia launched what it calls "a special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, over the perceived threat of the ex-Soviet republic joining NATO. Since then, the United States and Ukraine's other allies have sent Kiev tens of billions of dollars' worth of weapons, including rocket systems, drones, armored vehicles, tanks, and communication systems.

Western countries have also imposed a slew of economic sanctions on Moscow. The Kremlin has said the sanctions and the Western military assistance will only prolong the war.

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