German unions threaten to escalate public-sector wage dispute

BERLIN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Trade unions in Germany threatened to further escalate an ongoing public-sector wage dispute on Wednesday.

The trade union ver.di urged federal and communal employers to make a concrete proposal to resolve the issue that has already caused disruptive "warning strikes" involving over 60,000 individuals across Germany in recent days.

Ver.di director Frank Bsirske told the press that a failure to signalize a willingness to compromise ahead of a looming third round of collective wage negotiations could only be interpreted as "confrontation" on behalf of employers.

Similarly, Ulrich Silberbach, federal president of the German Civil Service Association warned against entering a "spiral of discontent." Trade unions are demanding collective wage increases of 6 percent for 2.3 million public sector employees in light of Germany's booming economy.

According to ver.di, more than 25,000 staff participated in warning strikes in six German states on Wednesday. The industrial action caused severe disruption to the operation of public waste disposal services, hospitals, child day-care centers, military facilities and administrative agencies among others. At least 23,000 striking workers joined several related demonstrations in the states of Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Wuerttemberg, North-Rhine Westphalia and Hesse.

Klaus-Dieter Klapproth, president of the German Federation of Regional Employers' Associations (VKA) complained on Wednesday that the industrial action directed by trade unions like ver.di was affecting innocent citizens. Klapproth noted that strikes had often been focused on organizations where resulting disruptions where likely to garner the most media attention, such as airports, despite the fact only relatively few employees in the public sector actually worked there.

Earlier, the German Airports Association (ADV) similarly 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.

Nevertheless, ver.di president Bsirske defended the ongoing industrial action during appearances at rallies in Mannheim and Ludwigshafen on Wednesday, saying that strikes were intended to break the "blockade position" adopted by employer associations to ensure that high quality work in the public sector was well-paid. He pointed to new official figures which showed that the German government had achieved a record budget surplus of 61.9 billion euros in 2017.

Dbb president Silberbach warned that employers needed to recognize the importance of investing in personnel. "Nobody wants a fourth round (of collective wage negotiations) and further strikes, but the employers should know that we will not shy away from a conflict either," Silberbach said in Bonn.

The trade unions announced that nationwide strikes would expand on Thursday. A third round of collective wage negotiations between labor and employer representatives is scheduled to be held in Potsdam from April 15. Enditem