PUBLIC transport strikes brought buses, trams and even many aircraft to a standstill across most of Germany today.

The ver.di union called a “warning strike” as negotiations on pay and hours continue for about 90,000 transport workers, with those in different regions taking varying spells of strike action.

In Berlin, public transport was shuttered till 10am, while strikes lasted all day in Hamburg, Hannover and Cologne. The only German state not affected was Bavaria, where pay negotiations are not currently taking place.

Ver.di deputy chairwoman Christine Behle said workers were striking for a more efficient public transport system, with staffing shortages meaning “buses and trains are cancelled every day in all fare zones because there are not enough staff.” Raising pay to reflect the runaway inflation of recent years would attract more people to work in the sector, she argued.

Climate protest group Fridays for Future also backed the strikes, saying investment in public transport was key to driving down carbon emissions.

Sevim Dagdelen, an MP for the newly formed Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance — a split from Die Linke — told the Morning Star that “public transport workers urgently need better working conditions and higher wages, particularly in view of the dramatic shortage of staff after years of spending cuts.

“The strike is a signal against the German government’s neoliberal austerity policy. Like the farmers’ protests, it shows growing dissatisfaction with an economic policy that that life more expensive.

“Instead of pouring a record €90 billion (£75bn) a year into armaments and the military, as in the recently adopted budget, the government should urgently invest in our ailing infrastructure and deficient public services.”