Anyone who is currently dependent on buses and trains or wants to travel by plane needs strong nerves. Several major strikes are having a massive impact on daily life in this country. Whether for train drivers, at Lufthansa or in local public transport: In many sectors, collective bargaining rounds have been dragging on for months without any results. Just as the procedure used to be common in Germany, where an agreement was reached somewhere in the middle after a few negotiation dates and a few short warning strikes, it doesn’t seem to be working at the moment. Rarely in the history of the Federal Republic has the dispute between unions, who point out high inflation, and employers, who are concerned about high costs and the weak economy, been so bitter. An overview of the strikes coming up in the coming days.
Trains
Passengers who want to travel by train on Thursday or Friday, or who rely on the S-Bahn trains operated by Deutsche Bahn, are hit hard again. Deutsche Bahn warns of “massive consequences” of the upcoming strike by the train drivers’ union GDL. The basic range of train journeys started as planned in the morning, it was said. Once again, only around 20 percent of long-distance trains are in use. The effects are different in regional transport. There will be no train connection for travelers on Thursday and Friday; passengers can reschedule their journey until the days after the strike. Passengers can find out which trains will be canceled and which connections will be maintained before they start their journey Deutsche Bahn homepage inform.
The strike in freight transport began on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. There will then be far-reaching restrictions at the group subsidiary DB Cargo. The new round of industrial action in passenger transport began on Thursday morning at two o’clock – now the fifth in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute between GDL and Deutsche Bahn. The strike is expected to last 35 hours, which is relatively short compared to previous rounds. However, GDL boss Claus Weselsky has already announced new industrial action.
According to Weselsky, future strikes by the GDL should be significantly longer and announced at much shorter notice. Until now, the union had usually announced 48 hours in advance when there was a threat of new strikes. In the future, rail travelers could be surprised by new strikes much more often. “This means that the railway is no longer a reliable means of transport,” said Weselsky. Setting up emergency timetables, as the railways have done so far, will then most likely no longer be possible. Weselsky does not rule out labor disputes over Easter.
The tariff dispute at the railway has been going on since the beginning of November. There is no immediate solution in sight. The main point of contention is the GDL’s demand for a 35-hour week with full wage compensation for shift workers. External mediators had recently proposed a reduction to 36 hours in two stages, the second stage of which should come into force at the beginning of 2028. According to its own statements, the railway would have agreed to this if necessary. The GDL apparently rejected the proposal. Passenger associations and numerous politicians are harshly criticizing what they see as Weselsky’s uncompromising course.
Flights
Travelers will also have to prepare for restrictions in air travel in the coming days. The Verdi union has called on employees in Lufthansa’s technology, logistics and training areas to go on a warning strike, which came into force on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. Other members of the ground staff joined at four o’clock on Thursday morning. The strike is scheduled to end for all participants on Saturday morning at 7:10 a.m.
In addition to the industrial action among Lufthansa ground staff, the union is also calling for an all-day strike among the security forces at Frankfurt and Hamburg airports on Thursday; the strike was also extended to Cologne-Bonn Airport without prior notice. In Hamburg, all 141 planned departures are to be canceled on this day or will take place without passengers. Germany’s largest airport in Frankfurt will remain closed to departing travelers on Thursday. In Cologne-Bonn, freight traffic in particular will be “severely hit”, but passenger flights will not, according to Verdi.
According to estimates by the Lufthansa Group, around 200,000 passengers will be affected by the strikes on Thursday and Friday. This was also the case with the previous strikes, in which around 1,000 flights per day were canceled and only just under a tenth of the planned flights could take place. Travelers can find out about their connections on the homepages of the respective airports before departure.
In addition, there are signs of industrial action by another group of employees: more than 96 percent of the approximately 19,000 flight attendants from the Lufthansa core brand and the subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline voted in favor of work stoppages, as the UFO union announced. When the strike will begin will be determined at a later date.
According to Verdi negotiator Wolfgang Pieper, an expansion of strike measures in collective bargaining among security personnel at German airports cannot be ruled out. Most recently, employers offered to increase hourly wages in three steps: by 1.20 euros on March 1st, by 0.75 euros on October 1st and again by 0.75 euros on April 1st, 2025 – with the collective agreement remaining in effect of 24 months. Insufficient for Pieper. Verdi is demanding 2.80 euros more wages per hour, higher functional bonuses and overtime bonuses from the first overtime hour with a contract term of twelve months.
Buses and trains
Negotiations are also currently underway in local public transport in all federal states with the exception of Bavaria – the collective agreement there has not been terminated. The Verdi union called on its 90,000 employees to go on strike nationwide last week. In many federal states, buses and trains were at a standstill, especially last weekend. In some cities there were joint campaigns with Fridays for Future. The strike continued in North Rhine-Westphalia until Wednesday evening.
The two-day strike in the state announced by Verdi began on Tuesday, and trams and subways remained in the depots of around 30 municipal transport companies. New strikes in local transport could soon take place in Baden-Württemberg. Verdi broke off negotiations with the employers there on Tuesday.