Latest News

Germany saw record number of industrial conflicts in 2023, study programs

The number of working days lost to strikes in Germany doubled in 2023 compared with the previous year to more than 1.5 million, with a record 312 industrial conflicts, a study revealed on Thursday.

High inflation and the consequent loss of acquiring power were the main drivers, said the research study by the Institute of financial and social sciences (WSI), which has actually tracked the number of industrial conflicts since 2006.

The study underscores how a cost-of-living crisis and an inflation spike after the pandemic and the Russian intrusion of Ukraine sparked a wave of industrial action in Europe's biggest economy and tested its treasured model for worker relations.

2024 is also likely to be a year of intensive commercial disagreements, the WSI stated, including that the figure could depend on the outcome of union talks in the metal and electrical markets in the fall.

The 1.52 million working days lost in 2015 was the highest given that 2015 and an increase of 126% on 2022 levels.

A wave of strikes at the start of the year hit railways, regional transport, airports and the Lufthansa airline company, and coincided with farmers' protests and a budget crisis that put Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government on the back foot.

Nevertheless, the WSI said the public perception of Germany as a. strike-prone nation was primarily because lots of strikes, such as. those that brought 11 German airports to a dead stop in. February, disrupted people's daily lives.

According to WSI, Belgium has seen the most days lost per. 1,000 employees due to commercial action with approximately 103. days between 2013 and 2022, followed by France and Finland with. 92 and 90 days respectively.

Germany ranks 8th, behind Britain however ahead of nations. such as Switzerland and Sweden, where industrial action is near. to zero, the study stated.

(source: Reuters)