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Public transport workers join climate activists for week of strikes across Germany
(www.theguardian.com)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
One of Europe’s largest trade unions, Verdi, which represents the majority of public transport workers in Germany, is collaborating with the youth-led Fridays for Future in what the organisations themselves admit is an unusual partnership, but one born out of recognition of their overlapping goals.
A recent train drivers’ strike that went on for several days, costing the economy an estimated €1bn (£860m), garnered considerable backing from the public.
“In order to counteract this, working conditions and wages need to drastically improve,” said Darya Sotoodeh, of Fridays for Future Germany.
She said instead of seeking improvements, transport companies were trying to keep workers’ wages low at a time when the attractiveness of jobs in the sector needed to rise.
The two organisations held strikes last year that deliberately coincided with each other, but this is the first time they have officially coordinated a joint action.
Matthias Kureck, a bus driver from Berlin for the past 16 years who is involved in the strikes, said he had been sceptical of the alliance but now was “a proud climate activist” after recognising the groups’ common goals.
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