In Germany, France and Great Britain, strikes are once again paralyzing public life – and strengthening the trade unions, which have been weak for years. The main reason is inflation.
A wave of strikes is sweeping across Europe: even in Germany, a “mega strike” that was unusual for the country paralyzed public transport on Monday. Meanwhile, general strikes have been part of protests against pension reforms in France for weeks, where President Emmanuel Macron is experiencing the worst crisis of his tenure. The conservative leadership in Great Britain is also in distress, even hospital staff and teachers recently stopped working there to fight for better salaries and working conditions.
The Swiss historian Adrian Zimmermann sees a clear trend towards more strikes in Europe: “The common denominator is inflation,” he says in an interview with “Presse”. He researches the strike movement in Europe during the First World War and sees similar developments today: “One reason for the radicalization at the time was the extreme inflation. Just like then, there is no longer any cost-of-living adjustment, which was one of the basic features of the social compromise from the Second World War until the 1990s.”