(New: including situation on roads and VKA President Welge)

BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Traffic on trains, buses and planes in Germany came to a virtual standstill on Monday. A major warning strike by the rail union EVG and Verdi has been underway since midnight. Millions of commuters and travelers as well as large sections of freight traffic are affected by the 24-hour industrial action. Major traffic jams in the morning beyond the usual obstructions in rush hour traffic have so far been reported only sporadically by the police. In some cases, traffic was reported to be at a standstill, with no major restrictions as a result of the major strike.

On the railways, long-distance traffic has been completely suspended and most regional traffic has been suspended for the time being. Almost all German airports are on strike. Waterways and ports as well as the highway system are also affected. In addition, public transport is on strike in seven German states.

With the all-day warning strikes, the trade union Verdi and the rail and transport union (EVG) want to increase the pressure in their collective bargaining negotiations. In parallel to the walkout, unions and employers in the public sector will meet again this Monday for talks. At EVG, further negotiations with Deutsche Bahn and other rail companies are not scheduled until later.

Verdi head Frank Werneke stressed: "The strike day in the transport sector is intended to make it unmistakably clear to the employers once again that the employees are clearly behind our demands." Regarding accusations from the employers' side that the warning strikes were putting a strain on the negotiations, Werneke said, "What public sector employees, all the way up to the middle-income groups, perceive as a strain is above all the enormous price increases for electricity, gas and food."

Karin Welge, president of the Federation of Municipal Employers' Associations, criticized the walkout. "We already agreed last year to come to each other in three rounds of negotiations. And that's why this massiveness of the strikes before the third round of negotiations is already clearly surprising," she told radio station Bayern 2. Welge said she would also like to see a conclusion. "At this point in time, I assume that this will succeed."

The head of the civil servants' association dbb, Ulrich Silberbach, warned against extending the labor disputes. "Either we cut the knot and find an agreement, or we face another wave of escalation and strikes," he told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Railroads:

The EVG is striking long-distance, regional and commuter rail services. Long-distance traffic has been suspended, and most regional traffic has been suspended, at least since the strike began. According to Deutsche Bahn, whether individual lines in regional traffic will be started in the afternoon depends on how the strike progresses. Effects are also likely to be felt on Tuesday. Private railroads that were not on strike were also affected because employees in DB Netz signal boxes were on strike.

Airports:

Airports are largely on strike by Verdi. According to the airport association ADV, 380,000 business and private travelers will have to remain on the ground. The largest airport in Frankfurt is also affected, as well as Munich Airport, which has already suspended operations on Sunday. The capital's airport BER was not included in the warning strike. However, since almost all other German airports are on strike, all domestic flights there were canceled. The airports expect a heavier load factor on Tuesday.

Local traffic:

Once again, there will be a strike on local transport in the federal states that are directly linked to the collective agreement for the public sector. These are Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony. There will also be a strike in Bavaria, where a collective agreement for local public transport is being negotiated. Several states said students would be allowed to stay home if they could not get to school.

Strike day to start third round of collective bargaining:

Verdi and the civil servants' association dbb planned to resume negotiations with the federal government and local authorities in Potsdam on Monday for 2.5 million employees. Before the third round, the two sides were still far apart, but an agreement in the next few days is possible.

Further collective bargaining:

The background to the labor disputes are various wage disputes. At EVG, further talks with various rail companies are scheduled for the middle of the week. Further negotiations with Deutsche Bahn are not scheduled until after Easter. At airports, local public sector employees are involved, but there are also local negotiations for ground handling services and nationwide talks for aviation security. The coordinated action was met with strong criticism from employers - the walkouts were no longer recognizable to the public as a pure warning strike./bw/maa/DP/mis