STORY: The warning strikes by the Verdi union at the beginning of the week caused hustle and bustle and noise in Cologne on the one hand, but also failures and more silence than usual on the other. The background to the current strikes is the collective bargaining conflict in the public sector and in aviation security. In the negotiations for the more than 2.5 million federal and local employees, an agreement is a long way off from the point of view of the union. Verdi and the dbb tariff union are demanding 10.5 percent more money for state employees, but at least 500 euros more per month. Voices of protesters on the current status, including a teacher and a trainee in the care sector. “It’s very frustrating, because then you just realize how little you’re worth to politics, to everyone. That’s very frustrating, and it also makes you very sad. I’m doing my job now… I did 40 years ago started my apprenticeship, actually always loved my job. But now, at the moment it’s really exhausting due to all this lack of skilled workers and, and, and it’s become really, really exhausting. And we just want to be paid for that.” “We are actually trainees, and we get relatively little salary for what we have to work. And that’s why we’re on strike today.” “We’re asking for better pay for good work and given the circumstances that we have, that we have high inflation rates and that we also have people who are having a very hard time making ends meet. That’s important.” With a day-long warning strike on Monday, Verdi also largely paralyzed operations at Düsseldorf and Cologne/Bonn airports. Further industrial action is already planned.