Widespread German Strikes Hit Food, Retail, Transit, and Hotels as Wage Talks Stall
02.07.2026 - 06:25:10 | boerse-global.de
Workers across Germany walked off the job on a single day, targeting multiple industries in a coordinated push for higher pay. The walkouts – spanning food production, retail, pharmaceutical wholesale, regional rail, and hotels – underscore an unusually broad wave of industrial action as collective bargaining in several sectors grinds to a halt.
The union NGG called for warning strikes at Dr. Oetker locations in Bielefeld and Oerlinghausen, with roughly 2,500 employees expected to stop work. The company’s old wage contract expired in April. The NGG is demanding a 5.7-percent pay rise over twelve months, while management has offered only 2 percent. "Without pressure, nothing will move," said Thorsten Kleile of the NGG. The fourth round of negotiations is scheduled for July 8th.
The conflict is not isolated. In North Rhine-Westphalia, ver.di has rejected an improved employer offer covering 700,000 retail workers. For tomorrow, the union plans strikes in the wholesale and retail sectors of Lower Saxony and Bremen, with rallies in Braunschweig, Hannover, and Oldenburg.
Pharmaceutical wholesale is also affected. Unions are asking for a 7-percent wage increase – at least €250 per month. Employers have countered with 1.8 percent plus an additional step in May 2027.
Public transit and hospitality are no calmer. The GDL union has called Saarbahn locomotive drivers to strike from this afternoon until Monday morning, triggered by the cancellation of a special agreement by the Kommunaler Arbeitgeberverband Saar (municipal employers' association of Saarland). In Frankfurt, NGG members at hotels near the Messe exhibition ground have downed tools, demanding higher wages, better working hours, and more staff. Meanwhile in Bielefeld, ver.di has warned of warning strikes in local transit if wage talks collapse at the end of January – a separate dispute running parallel to the current wave.
