Numerous municipal departments and businesses will remain closed next Tuesday – from swimming pools to daycare centers. The Verdi trade union has called on Munich employees in the collective bargaining dispute in the public sector for March 21 for a major strike. “According to the feedback from the companies and administrations so far, this will be the largest strike meeting in recent years,” says Munich’s Verdi managing director Heinrich Birner, assessing the mood among the employees.
All administrative areas of the city, social and educational services, the Munich waste management company, several municipal utility companies, including the baths, Munich clinic, municipal savings bank, employment agency and other offices have been called to the strike. The strikes in recent weeks have been clearly felt by the people of Munich: garbage cans have not been emptied, buses and trams have stood still, and children cannot go to the day care center.
Verdi wants to push through 10.5 percent more wages for the 2.5 million federal and local employees nationwide, but at least 500 euros more per month. Employers are gradually offering five percent more for a two-year term and a one-off payment of 2,500 euros. “Many in the lower income groups really don’t know where they can still save,” says Verdi Managing Director Birner.
In expensive Munich, employees suffered particularly badly from inflation, which is making food, energy and rent more and more expensive. In addition, there is a high workload, since thousands of positions are now vacant. The state capital alone lacked more than 4,000 employees. The strikers gather at eleven o’clock on the Marienplatz for the rally.