The head of the German civil servants' association dbb has threatened major work stoppages, ahead of collective bargaining for federal and municipal government employees.
"The way I interpret the employers' statements right now, it will not stop at the obligatory warning strikes," dbb chief Ulrich Silberbach told Saturday's edition of the Rheinische Post.
"If they continue to apply the brakes like this and possibly even come to us with demands, I won't rule out widespread strikes. Then it will get really uncomfortable."
On January 24, the dbb and major union Verdi will begin collective bargaining for some 2.5 million federal and municipal employees. The unions are demanding 10.5% more income, but at least €500 ($532) more per month.
The Association of Municipal Employers' Associations (VKA) had rejected the demands as "not affordable."
"It's going to be filled with conflict, because the employers are just falling into old patterns of moaning," said Silberbach. "They still haven't understood that they have to do something for the workers in the crisis - energy price brake or not."
A government-mandated cap on energy prices, to help Germans weather massive inflation, is "not enough by a long shot," he argued.
In the last round of collective bargaining for the federal government and local authorities in 2020, hospitals, day-care centres, local transport and savings banks were among those affected by walkouts and protests.
However, the strikes were comparatively moderate at that time, which was attributed in part to Covid-19 precautions.
