German public sector workers stage strike at airports, cities

Public sector workers staged a strike on Tuesday for better pay at German airports, local transportation companies and nursery schools. The walk-out on Tuesday has forced German airline Lufthansa to cancel some 800 flights, and traffic could be stopped in many of the country’s western cities. Affected airports include Frankfurt, which is Germany’s biggest, as well as Munich, Cologne-Bonn and Bremen, AP reported. According to the ver.di union, Germany’s healthy economy is filling public coffers with record tax income and public workers deserve a cut. It wants a 6 percent, or at least €200 ($245) per month, pay rise for some 2.3 million public-sector employees, including airport ground crews, bus drivers, hospital staff, daycare employees and other municipal workers.