Prof. Dr. Elif Nuroglu
March 02, 2023•Update: March 03, 2023
The author works at the Turkish-German University, Department of Economics
ISTANBUL
In 3 questions, Prof. Dr. Elif Nuroglu evaluates the impact of strikes on European economies.
1. Economically, what is the current situation in Europe after COVID-19?
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic European economy has experienced a serious load on its budget due to the financial measures taken. Immediately after the recovery from the pandemic started, Russia's war on Ukraine reversed all the recovery plans. The European Union has implemented several sanctions packages against the Moscow administration after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War. However, the embargoes have affected not only Russia but also Europe negatively and led to serious economic bottlenecks.
After the war, due to the high cost of living in Europe, various sector workers in many European countries went on strike one after another. Inflation, which rose to record levels throughout Europe, unavoidable high costs, and the inability to increase the wages at a desired level, led many workers to strike.
Labor unions in different sectors have taken collective strike decisions for pay raises, improved working conditions, and pension rights in many European countries. The strikes were spread across different sectors such as subway workers, nurses, bus drivers and taxi drivers, teachers, dockers, lawyers, healthcare workers, sanitation workers, and aviation and postal service workers.
2. Do the strikes or protests positively affect the economic condition and the reliability of the workers’ syndicates?
People in many EU member states have gone on strike in 2022 and 2023 mainly asking for better payment, pension, and working conditions. However, it would be more meaningful to evaluate the recent strikes by comparing them with the trends over time.
According to the European Trade Union Institute, working days lost due to strikes are declining in Europe since 2000. Denmark saw a decline from 169 days to 105 days, which suggests that the culture of striking is still strong in this country. The number of working days lost due to the strike in 2020-2021 is the highest in France (79 days). This number is 13 in Germany, 16 in the Netherlands, 18 in the UK, 57 in Belgium, and only 1 in Austria. The data for the 2020-21 period shows that the number of days lost due to strikes started to increase. This is the result of the bad economic situation in Europe after the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War.
Although strike culture is already settled in Europe and it helps to make the payment and working conditions of workers better, strikes cost a lot to the countries. For example, On 27 July 2022 in Germany, the Verdi Union called the ground staff at Lufthansa to go on strike for a wage increase. Munich and Frankfurt airports were locked due to the strike. More than 1,000 flights were canceled and 134,000 passengers were affected. This strike cost about €35 million but as a result, the employer could reach an agreement with the Verdi Union. It shows that although strikes cost a lot to the country, the current structure allows the unions and workers to get what they want, and unions remain strong and reliable for the workers and employers.
3. What are the possible future scenarios?
In the European working culture, strikes and unions play an important role. When we look at European industrialization history, it appears that European workers acquired many of their rights after long strikes and demonstrations. Compared to many countries, working conditions in Europe are much better, and this is the result of strikes of workers and unions in the last few centuries.
The recent strikes in many European countries started with the call of unions such as the Education and Science Union (GEW) and Verdi Union in Germany and the Royal College of Nursing Union in the UK. Strikes cause disruptions in daily life. Due to the strikes of teachers lessons could not be held, health and transport services could not be provided and the streets were filled with garbage due to the cleaning workers' strike.
The British government plans to impose restrictions on strikes in certain sectors to protect the public interest. However, this action is interpreted as an ‘authoritarian attack’ and does not find public support.
Overall, strikes are an essential part of European working culture and their number increases as the working conditions and payment get worse. The public support for the strikes is also strong and the disruptions in daily life and money lost due to strikes are counted as one natural part of the event. Therefore, it seems that unions are going to remain strong in the European future to protect their members' rights.
*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu Agency.
