BERLIN/FRANKFURT: A top union boss in Germany justified a massive strike planned for Monday as a “matter of survival” for many thousands of people fighting for higher wages as inflation soars, according to an interview published in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The strike, Germany’s largest in decades, is expected to cause widespread disruption on railways and at airports in Europe’s largest economy. It had already started at Munich Airport on Sunday, where the departures board showed multiple flight cancellations.