Warning strikes over pay in Germany's public sector will extend to the capital Berlin next week, service sector union Verdi said on Friday. Verdi, which is demanding an 8 percent pay rise for some 2 million state employees, said municipal hospitals and care homes in at least 10 of Germany's 16 states had already been affected by the stoppages.
These could run until February 24, it said. Public transport in towns and cities, kindergartens and local administrations are also being targeted. In Berlin, street cleaning and water services will be affected, the union said. Employees in the capital and the surrounding state of Brandenburg will join strikes from next week, Verdi said.
"When more and more is going into the (company) coffers compared to previous years, we just can't go on like this," Verdi boss Frank Bsirske said at a strike near Frankfurt, adding that workers were struggling due to high food and energy prices.
The government last month offered a 5 percent pay rise staggered over this year and next - an offer that was rejected by Verdi, which is seeking a one-year wage contract. The next round of talks between Verdi and employers is scheduled for February 25 in Potsdam. The German civil servants' federation (DBB), which is negotiating with Verdi, said several thousand members would hold warning strikes on February 19 in six cities, including Berlin.
As part of a separate wage dispute, industrial union IG Metall said on Friday it would hold fresh warning strikes at steel makers in eastern Germany next week. Arcelor Mittal was among the firms due to be affected. IG Metall is seeking an 8 percent pay rise over 12 months and has so far been offered 3.5 percent over 16 months. In the last two years, Germany has enjoyed its strongest burst of economic activity since reunification in 1990.
Unions are pushing for a greater share of gains after years of wage restraint that helped boost firms' profitability, while state finances have also improved substantially. The European Central Bank says it is imperative that pay talks do not create an inflationary wage-price spiral.