Overview
- Verdi expanded nationwide Deutsche Telekom walkouts, which run Tuesday to Thursday, cutting customer service reachability, delaying repairs and fiber rollouts, and closing branches.
- In local transit, Göttingen halted all city buses on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hannover shut buses and trams from early Wednesday to late Thursday, and further stoppages hit Braunschweig, Wolfsburg and other cities on Thursday and Friday.
- The union seeks a 6.6% pay rise for about 60,000 Telekom staff plus a €660 annual members’ bonus, while transit workers press for shorter weekly hours, more leave, and higher night and weekend pay.
- Union leaders also oppose planned social‑spending cuts and labor‑law rollbacks, rejecting any end to the eight‑hour day or pension cuts, and they have called a major protest for June 10 in Hannover.
- Talks resume next with Telekom on May 26–27 and with municipal transit on June 1, and Verdi says more strikes are likely if employers do not improve their offers.