A Strike is No Insult

That the employees of Berlin's BVG public transportation system for buses, subways, and trams have been on strike since yesterday and will continue it indefinitely is certainly an inconvenience for the city and its citizens and visitors, as only the regional trains and S-Bahn express trains (another company) remain in operation for the millions of people who use the system daily. Some 3.5 million trips daily must be reorganized, and the S-Bahn, though fast, does not have as frequent stops, given that the BVG net should be the more local. On Monday, life could become yet more difficult, as the D-Bahn, operator of regional and S-Bahn trains, will probably again face a driver's strike for not signing the contract they negotiated with them in January. Then, there will only be feet, bikes, mopeds, cars, and taxis for everyone in Berlin (and for many in other towns served by DB or communal firms whose workers are also on strike).

Yesterday, one of this winter's ultra-rare snowstorms further complicated matters, cars stood more than they drove, bike riders arrived with numb fingers, and pedestrians came as snowmen. (Here a photo of the situation from the Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel: )

Nonetheless, when an employer deigns to label a strike an insult or an idiotic action rather than negotiating in good faith with the unions on the latters' (legitimate) demand for salary and wage increases, when that employer refuses even to consider paying workers more after years without a pay raise, then those staff members have only one means of pressure in their hands: going on strike, withholding their work.

It is time that stockholders, managers, owners, counseling firms, etc. STOP maintaining that paid work is something to be eliminated, that workers should be reduced at all costs, that wages should only be cut, whether the firm is doing well or not. Workers are people. Companies are not. People work for money to live on. They must. Companies are constructs, but it is not legitimate for them to maintain that their existence and rising profitability is more important than the people working there. THAT IS NOT SO!

So, though we may have to bike or walk to work and appointments, most of us here in Berlin SUPPORT the demands of the BVG strikers and understand their plight. Let us citizens put pressure on the government (who is the employer here) to offer the workers a decent wage increase. And to set a good example for all other employers. Social responsibility and the general welfare of society is much more important than any return on investment anywhere.