"This strike day will have a massive impact," said Verdi head Frank Werneke. "The all-day strike starts normally at midnight on the night of March 26-27 and ends at midnight (the next day),” both unions announced.

With this tactic, Verdi is increasing pressure for the third round of negotiations with the federal and local governments, which begins on Monday. Together with the civil servants' association dbb, the union is demanding 10.5 percent and at least 500 euros more in wages for the public sector. The employers had presented an offer in the second round of negotiations at the end of February. Among other things, it includes a total pay increase of five percent in two steps and one-off payments totaling 2,500 euros.

Negotiations between EVG and Deutsche Bahn and around 50 other rail companies began at the end of February. The first round of negotiations with all parties ended this Thursday.

Last week, the union rejected an initial offer from Deutsche Bahn. It is demanding at least 650 euros more in wages. In terms of higher wages, it is seeking an increase of twelve percent for a collective agreement term of twelve months. Among other things, Deutsche Bahn had offered to raise the wages of the approximately 180,000 affected employees in two steps by a total of 5 percent, as well as one-time payments totaling 2,500 euros.

As a result of the warning strike, Deutsche Bahn announced that it would have to suspend all long-distance services on Monday. Also when it comes to regional traffic “hardly any trains will run", the company announced on Thursday. "Already on Sunday evening, according to statements by the union, the first effects from striking employees are possible," it said. The warning strike will continue to affect rail traffic on Tuesday.

Verdi has called on employees at all German commercial airports except Berlin to strike. As a result of the industrial action, air traffic will be reduced throughout the strike period.

Frankfurt Airport's operating company already announced that there would be no regular flight operations there on Monday. "All functions that enable full flight operations" are suspended due to the warning strike, Fraport announced Thursday. "Fraport therefore urges passengers to refrain from traveling to the airport." Airport transfers will also not take place at Germany's largest airport. According to Fraport, about 1,170 takeoffs and landings with a total of about 160,000 passengers were originally planned for that day.

Regular flight operations will also not be possible at Munich Airport on both Sunday and Monday due to the labor dispute, according to airport operations there. "On Sunday, 737 takeoffs and landings were scheduled at Munich Airport. On Monday, 772 flight movements were on the schedule," it said.

The super strike day will also cause significant obstructions on German waterways. "We are aware that locks on individual waterways will be subject to strikes," a spokeswoman for the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV) told the German Press Agency. "It can be assumed that there will be delays in navigation.”

Alongside Deutsche Bahn, the rail companies affected include Transdev, AKN, Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen, erixx, vlexx, eurobahn and Die Länderbahn, according to EVG. According to Deutsche Bahn, the company expects "massive disruptions" to all rail operations. Long-distance, regional and suburban rail services are likely to come to a virtual standstill throughout Germany.

EVG head Martin Burkert advised all travelers to arrive at their destinations as early as possible on Sunday, "because there may well be shifts that start on Sunday evening and continue into Monday.” Verdi is also calling for work stoppages in public transport in Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and in large parts of Bavaria.

Motorway operations will also be on strike. "We will also target certain tunnels," said Verdi's deputy federal chairwoman, Christine Behle. Fears that there could be tunnel closures, meanwhile, were dismissed by the motorway operators. "In particular, the operational service on the federal main roads is to be maintained," the company said. "Emergency service agreements have been reached for this purpose, for example to avoid tunnel closures." This also applies to the Elbe Tunnel in Hamburg, which Behle had mentioned as an example.

Railroad personnel board member Martin Seiler called the actions on Thursday "completely excessive, unnecessary and "disproportionate." He called on the EVG to return to the negotiating table "without delay." The fact that the union does not want to negotiate again until the next round of negotiations at the end of April does not show “that the union is taking this seriously”.

More than 30 years ago, local and long-distance transportation and airports throughout Germany were all on strike at the same time, and this lasted for several weeks. During this tough industrial action in the public sector in the spring of 1992, several hundred thousand employees temporarily stopped work. However, this was a regular labor dispute, not a warning strike.

The warning strike will also affect the Bonn/Cologne region. As was learned from the Verdi office responsible for Bonn, Cologne and Leverkusen, the employees of the municipal transport companies are called to a work stoppage. In addition to the Bonn public utilities (SWB), these include the Cologne public transport company (KVB) and the Rhein-Sieg-Verkehrsgesellschaft (RSVG). Regionalverkehr Köln (RVK), which operates buses in the area on the left bank of the Rhine that also travel into the city of Bonn, will not be affected by the strike, as was the case on previous strike days. The drivers there have in-house contracts and no collective agreements. The subcontractors commissioned by the transport companies will also be in service. In Bonn, they provide about a third of the daily bus trips.

Note: Some bus lines will be operated by subcontractors on the strike days as well. The timetables are available here: https://www.swb-busundbahn.de/fahrplaene/busfahrplan-am-streiktag/

In North Rhine-Westphalia, the call to strike is also directed at air traffic employees at Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf and Dortmund airports.

According to Verdi, shipping on the Rhine will also be suspended. Federal employees of the Autobahn GmbH were also called to strike, as announced by Verdi head Frank Werneke on Thursday, but as of the afternoon, it was not yet clear what impact this would have on the roads in Bonn and the region.

(Orig. text: Matthias Arnold, Basil Wegener, Jessica Lichetzki, dpa; Translation: ck)