A wave of transport and public sector strikes is hitting Germany this week as ver.di continues pay negotiations on behalf of thousands of workers. Here’s what residents should know about possible disruptions.

Transport strikes hit Frankfurt, Essen and Hamburg

A public transport “warning strike” (Warnstreik) will begin in Frankfurt on February 12, bringing trams and U-Bahns to a standstill until Wednesday. S-Bahn and regional trains, which Deutsche Bahn operates, will still run, but are expected to be very busy.

Further north in Essen and Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia, employees at the Ruhrbahn company will also strike on Wednesday. Tram and bus services will be affected until 3am on Thursday, February 13.

In Hamburg on Thursday, travellers will also be affected by strikes at the airport. Hamburg Airport has instructed passengers to check their airline’s flight updates regularly, check-in online and travel with less luggage if possible.

The industrial action follows a 24-hour public transport strike in Berlin on February 10, which stalled all traffic run by the local transport association, BVG. 

Public sector strikes in multiple German states

It isn’t just public transport which will be affected by industrial action this week, as employees in several public services, including Kitas, hospitals and rubbish collection, are also striking in multiple federal states.

On Wednesday, water board and theatre employees will strike in Frankfurt. Elsewhere in Hesse, public sector workers in Main-Taunus, Hochtaunus, Wetterau and Offenbach will strike. Paramedics in Offenbach, and hospital, disabled, elderly and childcare workers will strike across the federal state.

Members of the German Education Union (GEW) working in certain youth and disability education services will also walk out on Wednesday in Leipzig, Saxony,

On Wednesday and Thursday in Berlin, nurses at the Charité and Vivantes hospitals will strike, meaning non-emergency appointments will have to be rescheduled. Employees at Berliner Wasserbetriebe (BWB) and Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR) will strike, while staff at several of Berlin's public swimming pools and some Job Centre will strike, meaning appointments may be delayed.

On Thursday, Hamburg employees at the Asklepios-Kliniken, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Kita workers, disability carers, theatre workers and rubbish collection workers will all strike.

Why are so many German transport and public sector workers striking?

In the past weeks, the regional branches of the German trade union ver.di have called on members to strike as the union continues fraught pay negotiations with bosses on their behalf.

Negotiations have so far been unfruitful, escalating to warning strikes. Now, the union is saying that unless an agreement is reached soon, industrial action may escalate further to nationwide strikes.

"If nothing is forthcoming, there will certainly be a significant expansion before the federal election," ver.di spokesperson Christine Behle wrote in a press release.

The union is demanding pay rises across the public sector and transport associations, but the demands differ slightly depending on the industry. They are pushing for a 350 euro per month (8 percent) increase in salary for public sector workers plus three additional days of holiday leave.

Representing 16.000 Berlin public transport employees, ver.di is demanding the BVG increase wages by 750 euros per month for all employees, among other changes.

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