Nearly one million days lost through strikes in Germany – STERN

Whether Deutsche Bahn, Lufthansa, post or Kita: The whole of Germany this year has been affected by repeated and lengthy strikes. Although some labor disputes could be settled in the meantime, the strikes until the beginning of July already add up to nearly a million lost working days in Germany. The reported the “Rheinische Post” on surveys of the Institute of the German Economy (IW) in Cologne.

Given the many work stoppages in recent months, the institute expects that 2015 will be “absolutely exceptional year” in terms of strikes. “By the end of the postal strike in early July, we come to our estimate at 944,000 lost days,” says IW tariff expert Hagen Lesch of the newspaper, citing information provided by the employer and media reports. In order for a value has been achieved, the sun by more than six times higher than in the entire previous year. Back then there was loud IW about 157,000 days lost.

From the economy comes criticism of the last pronounced Streikfreudigkeit. “Because of strikes this spring we can achieve less growth”, the President of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA), Ingo Kramer the Journal said. “It is not a vote of confidence in the German economy, if delayed deliveries and the production is no longer running smoothly.”