German flag carrier Lufthansa today said close to 800 flights had been canceled, as pilots and flight attendants went on strike. An estimated 100,000 passengers have been affected. Many Lufthansa planes remained grounded after Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), the German pilots’ union, and Germany’s flight attendant union UFO called a strike.
This is not the first labor dispute this year. After a pause last year in negotiations for many industries, the motto in 2026 seems to be: A new year, new strikes.
New collective bargaining agreements are due for around 10 million employees in 2026. If the unions cannot reach an agreement with employers regarding pay and working conditions, there will likely be labor disputes.
Earlier this year, Ver.di, a service sector trade union, called for nationwide strikes ahead of a third round of collective bargaining negotiations with Germany’s federal states.
Schools, daycare centers, universities, theaters, state administrations, and security agencies were affected.
‘Warning strikes’ across industrial sectors
The union kicked off its year of industrial action in early February when “warning strikes” brought local transport to a standstill across Germany. Another “warning strike” on February 11 affected public transport in parts of Hamburg and the state of Bavaria.
Since early February, talks over new collective agreements have been underway in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry, which is in crisis.
Some 2,400 jobs have been cut due to high energy costs and declining orders. According to the German Chemicals Industry Association (VCI), further plant closures and relocations have already been announced that will lead to more job cuts.
Beleaguered rail operator Deutsche Bahn and the Union of German Train Drivers (GDL) started a new round of collective bargaining on Thursday. Strikes will only be possible only from early March, after an obligatory truce expires.
“The team is furious,” said Mario Reiss from GDL in response to an offer by Deutsche Bahn, which wanted to know when the strikes would start.
“We are trying to avoid a strike,” he said. “But we are certainly not going to take this lying down.”
He added preparations for industrial action were already underway.
Firms in the wholesale, retail and foreign trade sectors, which account for around 3.6 million employees, are also trying to strike deals. The collective agreement in the metal and electrical industry expires in October.
The public transport sector is one of the most affected by strikes. Here, streetcars belonging to Berlin’s BVG stand idleImage: Jörg Carstensen/Funke Foto Services/IMAGO
Fewer strikes now than in the 1980s
Although many employees in Germany may feel they are frequently involved in industrial action, a glance at long-term developments shows strikes are actually less frequent.
In the 1980s, strikes and lockouts meant over 600,000 working days were lost per year but between 2000 and 2009, this fell to just under 150,000 working days per year.
But according to the German Economic Institute (IW), this figure has risen over the past 15 years. While the average number of days lost to strikes per 1,000 employees was five in the 2000s, it rose to seven in the 2010s, and to 10 between 2020 and 2024.
However, the extent of industrial action declined in most members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Overall, Germany is one of the countries where strikes are traditionally rare, according to the IW. Workers in the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, and Japan also do not often engage in industrial action.
By contrast, strikes are more frequent in Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland and certain Scandinavian countries. But even in these countries, there have been fewer strikes in the new millennium than during the 1980s and 1990s.
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Strikes for job security too
Strikes are not only about wage disputes. In certain industries, which have been hard hit by economic and geopolitical developments. In the pharmaceuticals and chemicals sectors, unions have also been negotiating about job security.
“All the chemical plants in central Germany are at risk,” Stephanie Albrecht-Suliak, of the German trade union, IG BCE told German public broadcaster MDR. She said the preservation of jobs should be a top priority.
Job security will likely be a major component of negotiations in the metals industry and electricity sector, according to a report by Deutsche Bank Research.
“Public transport employees have been under a lot of stress due to extremely unfavorable working hours, shift work, and constant time pressure,” Ver.di deputy chair Christine Behle has said.
“We urgently need improvements to stop the high turnover rate and once again find reliable skilled workers for public transport,” Behle added.
Italian unions strike to protest new budget priorities
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Wages expected to rise
Researchers at the Hans Böckler Foundation found that in 2024 strikes were often a result of conflicts caused by “transformation.”
For example, a series of “warning strikes” and lengthy negotiations were able to prevent plant closures and redundancies at German car manufacturer VW despite these having been announced by management.
Deutsche Bank Research have predicted wages will rise by nearly 3% per year in 2026 and 2027. In 2025, the increase was estimated at 2.7%.
“While slightly stronger agreements are expected, particularly in the public sector, unions in structurally challenged industries are likely to place a greater emphasis on job security than on wage increases,” Deutsche Bank Research said.
This story was originally published in German.
