BERLIN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Germany has experienced severe disruptions to everyday life on Tuesday due to nationwide strikes by public sector employees.
The so-called "warning strikes" coordinated by the trade union ver.di led to hundreds of flight cancellations and forced the Cologne-Bonn international airport to cease operating entirely for several hours. Additionally, large numbers of daycare centers, healthcare clinics, waste disposal- and transport services remained closed on Tuesday.
Ver.di is demanding a six percent pay-rise for 2.3 million government employees in ongoing negotiations and hopes to increase pressure on employer representatives ahead of an upcoming third round of collective wage negotiations on April 15.
"When if not now can there be significant increases in wages for all workers, including those in the public sector?" Ver.di president Frank Bsirske asked during a speech at the Frankfurt International Airport with view to Germany's booming economy.
Bsirske expressed sympathy with thousands of travelers stranded by the industrial action, but defended the disruptions suffered as "acceptable" collateral damage in the current dispute over public sector wages. He warned that the situation would only escalate further unless a satisfactory compromise was found during the next round of talks.
However, the German Airports Association (ADV) criticized the strikes as disproportionate.
"A so-called warning strike, which immediately leads to economic damage in the millions of euros for airlines and airports, as well as long delays and massive flight cancellations, is devoid of any proportionality", VDA director Ralph Beisel argued.
Earlier, Germany's largest airline Lufthansa complained that its customers would bear the brunt of the industrial action although the company was not itself a party to the collective wage negotiations.
In total, Fraport, the operator of Frankfurt international airport, recorded nearly 660 cancellations on Tuesday.
