Is Germany on the verge of competing with France in the field of social protest? Across the Rhine, strikes have been increasing over the past year, particularly in transport and public services. So why is union membership increasing?
From our correspondent in Berlin,
Last January, Deutsche Bahn, the national rail transport company in Germany, experienced the longest strike in its history: five full days. At the same time, the number of unionized employees has started to rise again after years of decline. After years of dizzying decline, German unions are indeed seeing an unexpected boom. Plus 437,000 new memberships for the DGB, the confederation of German trade unions. 193,000 more memberships for Verdi, which represents the services sector, 130,000 more for IG Metall, the major union of German industry. Delphine Nerbollier sought to understand why, listen to her report from trade unionists in Berlin.
The report can be found in its entirety on our channel in Accents d’Europe at 12:10 UT or in podcast.
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