The public-sector union ver.di ratcheted up pressure on employers on 22 February, calling for fresh warning strikes on Monday and Tuesday that will hit Germany’s Autobahn GmbH and the municipal transport operators in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Kassel, Gießen and Marburg. The walk-outs come after talks over working-time supplements and sickness benefits stalled.
At the Autobahn GmbH, road-maintenance depots in all ten regional divisions will down tools, potentially slowing snow clearance and emergency repairs on key freight corridors such as the A3 and A5. In Hesse’s urban centres, tram and bus services operated by VGF, ESWE, KVG and others will grind to a halt from the first shift until late evening, affecting hundreds of thousands of commuters and airport staff.
Employers accuse the union of escalating rather than negotiating, noting that wage issues are scheduled for discussion only in the next round on 25 February. Verdi counters that management is trying to claw back long-standing allowances by offsetting them against future pay rises. The union’s strategy of synchronising disputes across different transport modes aims to maximise leverage while staying within Germany’s strict strike laws.
![Verdi Announces New Wave of Transport Strikes Targeting Autobahn and Hessian Transit]()
If the disruption forces foreign executives, technicians or project teams to change travel dates or ports of entry, VisaHQ can streamline any resulting visa amendments or short-notice Schengen applications, ensuring compliance and avoiding costly delays; more details are available at https://www.visahq.com/germany/
For mobility planners the impact could be wide-ranging: Frankfurt Airport relies on regional buses and S-Bahn feeders to connect staff and transfer passengers. Logistics firms warn that any degradation in motorway incident response could delay just-in-time deliveries to automotive plants around the Rhine-Main region. Many employers are activating remote-work contingency plans and advising travellers to use rental-car pooling or long-distance coach services.
Analysts expect the strikes to reinforce calls for a modernised framework for essential-service industrial action, especially with further negotiations pending in the aviation security and rail freight sectors later this spring. Corporates with significant German operations should prepare for rolling disruptions throughout the first quarter.
At the Autobahn GmbH, road-maintenance depots in all ten regional divisions will down tools, potentially slowing snow clearance and emergency repairs on key freight corridors such as the A3 and A5. In Hesse’s urban centres, tram and bus services operated by VGF, ESWE, KVG and others will grind to a halt from the first shift until late evening, affecting hundreds of thousands of commuters and airport staff.
Employers accuse the union of escalating rather than negotiating, noting that wage issues are scheduled for discussion only in the next round on 25 February. Verdi counters that management is trying to claw back long-standing allowances by offsetting them against future pay rises. The union’s strategy of synchronising disputes across different transport modes aims to maximise leverage while staying within Germany’s strict strike laws.
If the disruption forces foreign executives, technicians or project teams to change travel dates or ports of entry, VisaHQ can streamline any resulting visa amendments or short-notice Schengen applications, ensuring compliance and avoiding costly delays; more details are available at https://www.visahq.com/germany/
For mobility planners the impact could be wide-ranging: Frankfurt Airport relies on regional buses and S-Bahn feeders to connect staff and transfer passengers. Logistics firms warn that any degradation in motorway incident response could delay just-in-time deliveries to automotive plants around the Rhine-Main region. Many employers are activating remote-work contingency plans and advising travellers to use rental-car pooling or long-distance coach services.
Analysts expect the strikes to reinforce calls for a modernised framework for essential-service industrial action, especially with further negotiations pending in the aviation security and rail freight sectors later this spring. Corporates with significant German operations should prepare for rolling disruptions throughout the first quarter.
