Survey: Majority of Germans think mass transport strike is justified

A massive nationwide transportation strike planned in Germany for Monday that looks set to bring large parts of the country to a standstill has widespread support among the public, according to a survey, although many still oppose the move.

In a poll conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of dpa, some 55% of respondents agreed it was justified for two major trade unions to jointly call for a day-long strike.

The action is set to affect railway services, public transport, waterways, ports and motorways across much of the country as well as every airport outside Berlin.

Some 38% said they didn't agree with the action, while 8% didn't respond.

A clear majority of 69% indicated they didn't expect the strikes to affect them, with only every fifth person saying they regularly used regional public transport and were expecting disruptions on train and bus services.

Only 7% had planned long-distance rail trips which they expected to be impacted, while some 2% reported that they expected to be affected by flight cancellations.

Of those affected by the strikes, some 28% said they were planning to use their own vehicle as an alternative. Meanwhile, every fourth respondent said they would cancel their planned trip altogether.

The survey questioned 1,078 people above 18 across the country.

The EVG railway union is combining forces with the huge Verdi services union to push for increased pay for their respective memberships amid rising inflation.