Posted on 12/17/2002 3:51:04 PM PST by MadIvan
Tens of thousands of airline passengers in Germany were left stranded by strikes by public sector employees, as Germany's largest trade union stepped up the pressure for a large pay increase ahead of new wage talks on Wednesday.
Lufthansa said approximately 25,000 passengers were affected by the short "warning strikes" mounted by airport staff belonging to the Verdi services trade union. Frankfurt and Munich airports were most severely affected.
More than 100,000 Verdi members across Germany were involved in the strike actions, which each lasted up to several hours. The strikes also briefly halted local transport and public services in many cities.
Verdi's action represented a hardening of the union's stance in the pay talks with the government and local authorities. The union is demanding a wage increase of more than 3 per cent, in line with agreements this year in the private sector.
The employers have yet to put forward an offer, and have warned that many local authorities cannot afford any wage increase because of to the poor state of public finances. Otto Schily, interior minister, warned Verdi against "going too far" with its strike action at airports.
The strikes came as the government and the conservative opposition finalised last-minute alterations to laws on labour market reforms, paving the way for their introduction from January 1 onwards.
The agreement on the reform measures - a lead item on the government's agenda for the next four years - will come as a relief to Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, whose personal standing has suffered badly in recent weeks.
The alterations represent a blow to Germany's influential trade union movement, which has campaigned against some aspects of the liberalisation measures agreed yesterday.
The main compromise, due to be confirmed last night by government and opposition politicians in a special parliamentary liaison committee, focuses on the expansion of Germany's under-developed low wage sector.
Under opposition pressure, the government has agreed to expand opportunities for workers in so-called "mini-jobs" to earn low incomes on a legal basis, by raising the threshold at which employees have to pay tax social security contributions to €400 a month from the current €325.
Wolfgang Clement, economics and labour minister, said these changes would create some 320,000 new low wage jobs.
Senior trade union officials warned that this prediction was too optimistic, as many existing jobs would be broken up into a number of smaller mini-jobs to save employers money.
The government also made concessions to the opposition by loosening restrictions on employment in private households, but stood by earlier commitments to the trade unions on the introduction of forrmalised collective bargaining arrangements for staff of temporary employment agencies.
The measures, which originate in the Hartz commission labour market reform proposals presented in August, are expected to pass through parliament on Friday. Two other laws containing parts of the Hartz reforms are to be tabled in parliament next year.
(Meanwhile, causing as much trouble as he can, a la Clinton, for whomever succeeds him.)
Answer: Because Hitler and the war have been over for 57 years, and it is time for Germany to assume defence responsibilities for Europe and the EU allies.
Yup, in fact the French have already surrendered.
The Greens there make our environmentalists here look like tolerant, open-minded folks. A political lurch to the Greens in Germany could easily, in my opinion, lead to another nazi type regime (Hitler was elected with just over 30% of the vote--not an unachievable number for the Greens). Oh, the style would be different but the substance, as it affects the rest of the world, would be very similar.
Of all countries, I firmly believe that a permanent sense of guilt and need to apologize by the Germants is healthy for the rest of the world. The longer it keeps them demilitarized, the better for the rest of us.
Pepsionice, you really summed it up perfectly. I didn't live there for nearly so long but I caught on quickly that the mentality was very different. As I could not work and there is not really much to do, I spent alot of time walking and observing.
There's a reason Germany is still an occupied country. Other folks is high places have, for many years, felt that some heavy divisions in Germany make the world a better place. And they do.
I deeply disagree with those who would encourage the Germans to remilitarize.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.