[A-List] Germany: state sector labour militancy

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Germany heads for winter of strikes looms over

John Hooper in Berlin
Friday December 20, 2002
The Guardian

The prospect of rubbish piling up in the streets - that universal omen of a
troubled society - loomed large in Germany yesterday after the collapse of
talks between the government and public sector workers.

Representatives of the giant Ver.di union, which has the power to call out
almost 3 million state employees, emerged from 15 hours of negotiations
deriding a pay offer from the authorities. Frank Bsirske, the head of
Ver.di, called it "a provocation that doesn't even offer the prospect of a
result".

The union's leaders later rejected an offer of further talks and opted for
arbitration.

But Mr Bsirske held out little hope that mediation would help. "We are going
to prepare ourselves for a long strike," he said.

Ver.di's members include nurses, bus and train drivers, firefighters and
garbage collectors. If they to walk out next month, they could inflict
terminal damage on Gerhard Schröder's already embattled centre-left
government.

State elections in February could hand the opposition a clear majority in
the upper house of parliament enabling it to obstruct the government's
legislative programme.

A strike would be only the second indefinite national stoppage by Germany's
public employees in the 54-year history of the federal republic. The last
went on for 11 days in 1992 and left rubbish piled high on pavements
throughout the country. Ver.di has already this week given a hint of the
chaos it can inflict with a burst of brief "warning strikes".

One forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights at Frankfurt airport.
Others left commuters in regional cities unable to get to work as bus, tram
and underground train services ground to a halt.

A nationwide stoppage would do more than bring hardship to millions. It
would mark the definitive failure of Chancellor Schröder's strategy over the
past year or so, which has been to appease the unions with a blend of
minimal liberalisation and measures aimed at securing the "social justice"
he promised voters in September's general election.

Since then the government has imposed a series of unpopular tax increases
aimed at closing Germany's budget deficit without the need for deep spending
cuts.

Ver.di is seeking pay rises of more than 3%. The cash-strapped local, state
and federal administrations say they can only fund such an offer by laying
off staff.

"I don't think the union is taking enough account of the difficult state of
[Germany's] public finances," said the interior minister, Otto Schily.

Berlin has already been warned by the European commission over the size of
its budget deficit, which threatens to undermine the euro.

Mr Bsirske said that the employers had offered a complex package that would
include a pay rise of 0.9% from January and 1.2% from October.