In Germany, railway and airport workers went on strike again for their demands.
Workers demanding a salary increase and a reduction in working hours walked off the job led by trade unions.
The strikes affect hundreds of thousands of passengers.
In Germany, the dispute between workers and employers over high inflation and weak business activity has led to numerous strikes.
Industrial actions hit the transportation sector, supermarkets and public services.
Lufthansa airport ground staff will continue the nationwide strike launched today by the Verdi union until Saturday.
Security personnel at Frankfurt and Hamburg airports also led a one-day strike.
The Verdi union is demanding a 12.5 percent wage increase for workers, i.e. at least 500 euros a month.
200 THOUSAND PASSENGERS WILL BE AFFECTED
Frankfurt, Germany’s largest aviation hub, will experience “major disruptions and flight cancellations throughout the day,” the airport said in a statement.
According to Lufthansa, 200,000 passengers will be affected by the strike.
The airport will be closed to all departing passengers.
The Lufthansa strike is expected to cause further disruption to the airline’s services at other airports.
The previous one-day strike affected around 100,000 passengers and 80 to 90 percent of flights were grounded.
Workers’ representatives and management blamed each other for the travel disruption.
“THE BEGINNING OF A STRIKE WAVE”
Railway workers are also continuing their 35-hour strike today, which started yesterday.
The length of the strike aims to underline the GDL train drivers’ union’s core demand to reduce working hours from 38 to 35.
Railroad workers have been on strike for months demanding a wage increase to support their members who are being squeezed by the rising cost of living in the face of inflation.
In January, a strike by train engineers disrupted travel for thousands of passengers for several days.
Claus Weselsky, head of the GDL union, said this week that the more limited action was the start of a “strike wave”.
Weselsky said that future actions will be announced “when they feel the time is right”, not 48 hours in advance as in the past.
“Rail is no longer a reliable means of transportation,” Weselsky said.
