Two days of train drivers’ strikes at Deutsche Bahn had barely come to a close at dawn on October 20 when a new 35-hour strike started up at Lufthansa called for by the pilots union Cockpit. Angela Merkel, commenting on this succession of strikes organized by small corporatist unions warned that there were “several valid reasons” to “reestablish in law the principle of a single trade union” (one company, one union, one collective agreement). The government coalition agreement includes this project and is being spearheaded by the Minister of Labor, Andreas Nahles, who reported that the draft law on a single trade union was currently under examination by the respective Ministries of Justice and Interior. It will then proceed to other Ministries before its adoption on December 3 by the Federal Government.
Strike action – a two edged sword. The recent strike action by Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa occurred at an important moment for travellers. It is the start of the Halloween holiday period in 7 Länder and the end of the holiday period in 4 others. The two strikes have several similarities: they were both called for by small powerful corporatist unions who wield strength in excess of their membership size (GDL the train drivers union has 34,000 members and Cockpit the pilots union has 8,800 member
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