Climate. The southern hemisphere challenged by the greed of the north
Huge demonstration in Berlin against the EU-US trade deal
When the Greek debt crisis fills German coffers
A summer of xenophobic violence in Germany
Björn Aust: “!n Germany, we must challenge the myth about the debt “
Ukrainian Army Flees Debaltseve
Ukraine: Kremlin Calls For Truce to be Respected
Hamburg: Red Dragon’s European Port
German Rail Workers Strike
Germany: An SPD-Green-Die Linke majority would have been possible
The German Model Is Breaking Down
Moody’s Sends Shockwaves Through Germany
The Spinetta Report, a Catastophic Scenario for the Railways
2018, a Year of High Risk for the Railway
Rails and Classes
The Essence of the Strike
SNCF: Safety has Derailed
The Tarnac Affair: Symptomatic of a Psychotic Social Order
Gérard Coupat: "Fearing They Will Revolt, the State Puts its Youth in Prison"
Tarnac Rejects the Terrorist Scenario
European Railway Workers March in Paris
Michel Mujica: “It’s up to the Venezuelan people to resolve these problems”
Apocalypse Brazil
Asia : The Koreas forge ahead
Brazil, Year 1 of the Bolsonaro Regime
Mumia Abu-Jamal — A Formidable Success, But ...
The Cubans Will Have the Last Word
Latin America: Brazil - Under the control of extreme-right authoritarianism
YEMEN. WASHINGTON WANTS TO END THE WAR
TAX EVASION. 55 BILLION EURO STOLEN FROM THE EUROPEAN MEMBER STATES BY THE BANKS
Scandal surrounding the sale of 36 French fighter jets to India.
Vietnam:. The Little Napalm Girl Now Has Hope...
Africa: The Hunt is on for Defaulting Polluters
ORIGINAL FRENCH ARTICLE: Allemagne : après avoir paralysé le rail, la grève gagne le ciel !
Germany: After Paralyzing Railroads, Strike Takes to Skies!
Translated Friday 24 October 2014, by
Lufthansa pilots extended their strike to long-haul flights on Oct. 20. It’s the eighth strike in the year. Train drivers struck for 50 hours over Oct. 18-19.
Since the beginning of the year, the pilots of the German airline, Lufthansa, have been fighting corporate management over the conditions for early retirement. The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) trade union had already announced a strike beginning at 1 p.m. on Oct. 20, and on Oct. 21 for short and medium-haul flights. On Oct. 20 it warned that long-haul flights would also be affected on Oct. 21.
Lufthansa management announced on the evening of Oct. 19 that it was cancelling 1,450 flights concerning over 200,000 passengers because of the strike, which followed a work stoppage by train drivers over the Oct. 18-19 weekend.
The air and rail strikes come as school holidays begin in nearly half the 16 German Länder.
VC, which represents some 5,400 Lufthansa pilots, wants to keep the rules that allow pilots to retire from age 55 and to receive 60% of their salary until retirement at age 65. The trade union has proposed a plan to cover the cost of the measure.
For its part, Lufthansa management is proposing to maintain the set-up for workers who joined the company before this year. But it wants to up the retirement age for new hirees as soon as possible.
Over the Oct. 18-19 weekend, Deutsche Bahn train drivers held a 50-hour strike, the third strike in less than two weeks. The strike paralyzed two-thirds of the national trains. The GDL trade union is demanding a 5% wage hike for 20,000 drivers and a reduction in the work week from 39 to 37 hours. It also wants to be able to negotiate wage contracts for all rail workers.
