Photo Gallery Germany On Strike
The strike began in the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg last week. By last Thursday, garbage cans in the center of Stuttgart were already filled to overflowing.
This week, the public sector strike spread across Germany. Here, an employee of the Düsseldorf clinic protests outside the facility. Workers are resisting a 40 hour work week.
Road maintenance workers also went on strike this week. Here, workers picket in the small town of Holzkirchen south of the Bavarian capital Munich.
The public sector union Ver.di is organizing the strike. Last Wednesday, members voted to expand the strikes across the country.
Road workers in the town of Zwickau in Saxony also refused to work starting on Monday this week. Germany has seen a trend toward the 40 hour work week in recent years.
Zwickau road workers are also responsible for clearing roads of snow during the winter, meaning winter chaos could await residents of Saxony should the strike continue much longer.
University clinics, like this one in Düsseldorf, have made contigency plans for emergency cases. All non-urgent operations, however, have been cancelled.
Until now, public sector workers in Germany have enjoyed a 38.5 hour work week. They don't want to give it up.
The university clinic in Essen was hit by the public sector strike on Tuesday morning. And end for the work stoppage has not been set.
Over 1,000 public sector workers marched through Stuttgart on Monday.
Ver.di head Frank Bsirske says the strike is not about money. Rather, he thinks a 40-hour work week would cost Germany some 250,000 jobs.
