“We Drive Together!” German Climate and Transit Strike

Image Source: Bluecloud9. (2020). Climate Strike IMG_0629. Wikimedia Commons.

Excerpts from an interview with Friedrich Graeber of the Magdeberg grouping of the Youth Climate Strike group Fridays for Future:

All this goes back to three years ago when we approached the trade unions in Germany and we asked them if they were interested in working together, because we have to connect climate and social justice fights. We got an answer from public transport workers, who were interested in working together with us, and since then we started to build an alliance in more and more cities in Germany. 

Last year we had a meeting together again in Berlin where people from all over the country came together and decided to support public workers in their next big strike waves. In March we from Fridays for Future struck together with workers in public transportation in several places. We also went to the streets, demonstrated together, and joined the picket lines. 

At the start of next year we will strike together all over Germany and shut down public transport in order to get better working conditions and higher wages for the workers and also more money for transition. We want a transition of transport in Germany, a transition away from individual car-based mobility towards a more public transport sector affordable for all people. Our demand is to double the capacity of public transportation by 2030.

For full interview: https://www.transnational-strike.info/2023/05/04/we-drive-together-an-interview-with-friedrich-graeber-on-german-climates-and-workers-strike/