Host Nation Update, March 7, 2025
Verdi trade union calls for strike at Stuttgart Airport on Monday
The trade union Verdi is calling for all-day warning strikes at almost all major German airports on Monday – including Stuttgart. All employees covered by the collective wage agreement for the public sector (TVöD) and around 23,000 employees of ground handling service providers will be affected.
The trade union Verdi expects massive restrictions on departures and arrivals throughout Germany, including flight cancellations. In Stuttgart, the airport operator FSG and the companies Losch Airport Service, SAG and Stuttgart Ground Services GmbH will be on strike.
In addition to Stuttgart, the airports of Munich, Frankfurt/Main, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin-Brandenburg and Leipzig-Halle will be affected nationwide.
Due to the regional shift systems, there may be deviations at some airports – there the industrial action will begin on the evening of March 9 or end in the morning hours of March 11. Last week, there were already work stoppages at several airports in this wage dispute.
Verdi deliberately announced the new warning strike day early in order to give passengers planning security, said Verdi deputy chairwoman Christine Behle. She regretted the inconvenience that this strike would cause for passengers.
“Without the pressure of industrial action, there will be no movement in the negotiations—which is why we are already providing information today so that travelers can prepare for the restrictions in good time.”
“We feel compelled to go on this warning strike because the employers have not yet presented an offer in the ongoing collective bargaining for public sector employees and have shown no willingness to meet our justified demands,” said Behle.
The employees at the airports performed indispensable work for the smooth running of air traffic and were largely responsible for the safety of all passengers. They also deserved appropriate pay and better working conditions.
In the 2025 collective bargaining round, Verdi is demanding a volume of 8 percent, but at least 350 euros more per month for pay increases and higher bonuses for particularly stressful activities. Verdi is also demanding three additional days off to counteract the high concentration of work. A “my time account”, which employees can use themselves, is intended to provide more time sovereignty and flexibility. (SN, March 7, 2025)
Weekend full of sunshine in Baden-Württemberg
Lots of sunshine, mild temperatures and light winds – the best conditions await people in Baden-Württemberg to enjoy an ice cream or a coffee in the sunshine outside. With temperatures of up to 18 degrees, the German Weather Service expects light winds from several directions today. At night, it will cool down to 6 degrees. Along the Rhine, Neckar and Danube it could be as cold as -3 degrees.
According to weather experts, Friday will be just as sunny and dry as soon as fog and haze clear. Temperatures will rise to between 13 and 19 degrees. The weekend will also shine with sunshine and remain dry, according to the weather service. Dense clouds are expected to gather on Sunday, followed by rain from the southwest on Monday night. (SN, March 6, 2025)
Minister President Kretschmann: “Limit irregular migration, then AfD party will be halved by 2030”
The hall rises to its feet, there are standing ovations and long applause for Winfried Kretschmann after his speech at the Greens’ political Ash Wednesday. The Minister President of Baden-Württemberg is the man who has attended all 27 meetings of this kind. At the beginning of his speech, he recalled the drive-by shooting in Mannheim on Rose Monday and thanked the Pakistani cab driver who bravely put himself in the way of the alleged perpetrator with his car. “This is how our country is in the majority,” says Kretschmann and then turns to the suspect.
Shortly after his arrest, rumors had spread about the 40-year-old German’s origins. Did he have a migration background? Was it an Islamist attack? “That’s dangerous,” warns Kretschmann and clarifies: “In a civilized society, you wait for the facts before making a judgment.” Because, emphasizes the Minister President in his usual passionate manner: “If you do it the other way around, then you’re not just taking an axe to democracy, but to society.” Those people who spread such rumors are “not interested in people or our country”, says the 76-year-old.
And yet, after such acts, he also sees responsibility for himself and the other political leaders.
“We have to protect our citizens better,” says Kretschmann. “[After every such attack, possible weak points are examined in order to] make our country even safer.”
This also includes the issue of migration, because refugees are also becoming perpetrators time and again.
“We must limit irregular migration,” the Minister President urges. There is a shortage of educators, therapists, integration workers – “everything is scarce,” says Kretschmann, quoting former German President Joachim Gauck: “Our hearts are wide, but our possibilities are limited.” Humanity only exists in order, says Kretschmann.
“Yes, where do you deport a German to?” shouts Cem Özdemir.
“That shows what the radicals of the AfD are presenting as supposedly quick solutions,” Özdemir reports of migrants who flinch at every crime – out of fear that the perpetrator could also have a migrant background, which again leads to generalizations.
“We have to fight them all,” shouts the Federal Minister: right-wing radicals, left-wing radicals, Islamists. And he agrees with the previous speaker: “We need order, we need to limit irregular migration.” But at the same time, a “firm hand against racism and all forms of anti-Semitism.”
Özdemir regrets: “We are living in difficult times, the world is almost coming apart at the seams.” He said he sees his work as Minister President in recent years as a real role model, concluding his speech with the words: “Just as Winfried Kretschmann has exemplified for 14 years: talking to each other, learning from each other and boldly forging ahead.” The man who has his sights set on Kretschmann’s succession after the 2026 state elections then receives a standing ovation and long, loud applause. (SN, March 6, 2025)
New playground in Böblingen – A climbing paradise next to the Hallenbad (indoor pool)
The newly renovated Murkenbach playground next to the Böblingen’s indoor swimming pool is a colorful sight: green painted wooden beams rise up into the air, crowned by bright red wooden elements in the shape of flowers. There are balancing logs, ropes and climbing nets – and those who master the course can reward themselves at the end with a speedy ride down the railing slide. There is also a sand area where children can dig with diggers, shovels and buckets. “There’s something for all ages here,” says Birte Bonzheim from the Environment and Green Spaces department.
The renovation, which took a total of six weeks and cost 65,000 euros, was completed even earlier than expected. One person who is pleased about this is Lord Mayor Stefan Belz. “I am very happy that the children now have new play equipment at their disposal. Some of the old equipment was already 15 years old.”
The opening is a lively affair. The horizontal bar is particularly popular. “I like it best,” says a little girl. Many parents welcome the redesign—with one small caveat. “The playground is really nice, but there might not be enough shade here in summer,” says Anna-Maria Tref, who is there with her young daughter.
And that was exactly the intention with the wooden flowers. But as the sun blazes down from the cloudless sky on the opening day, they do not yet provide the hoped-for protection. (SN, March 7, 2025)
Stuttgart’s Fasching Parade celebration in the shadow of the Mannheim rampage
Mayor Frank Nopper was obviously in a good mood: he met the carnival tradition of symbolically reversing the balance of power for a few days with a jester’s cap. Alongside his wife Gudrun Nopper, who threw sweets from a bag into the crowd, he sat in second position in the Stuttgart carnival parade, which passed through the city on Tuesday afternoon, wearing a carnival headdress.
The rampage in Mannheim on Monday afternoon, which left two people dead, nevertheless remained in the back of people’s minds. After the attack in Mannheim on Monday, the city of Stuttgart, together with the organizers and the police, had discussed cancelling the parade in Stuttgart, but then stuck to it.
Other cities decided differently: Frank Nopper’s counterpart Eckart Würzner in Heidelberg had said of the cancellation of the parade there: “Our neighboring city has to suffer such a terrible act of violence for the second time within a year – in a situation like this, it was inconceivable for us to celebrate a happy carnival parade here in Heidelberg.”
Andreas Volland, second guild master of the Feen und Brunnengoischter carnival guild from Plattenhardt, said before the line-up for the Stuttgart carnival procession, which was shortened for safety reasons: “Inwardly, I mourn with the victims. But there are victims everywhere. Why should the carnival suffer as a result? We won’t let the carnival be ruined.” The carnival—or, as it is called in Stuttgart, the Fasching—was protected in Stuttgart city center with many police officers, many iron bars, buses and bollards placed across the street.
Apparently due to a broken bollard blocking the route, the start of the parade was delayed by half an hour. Perhaps because of this, there seemed to be less interaction between jesters and the public than last year, despite the sunshine. Celebrations were held on the advertising trucks, such as those of ILG-Außenwerbung GmbH: a sign on the windshield read “Good mood”, while a banner on the back proclaimed: “The kettle is boiling, the advertising is working.”
To speak of a boiling cauldron on Tuesday afternoon would be an exaggeration, but many of the 90,000 visitors, according to the organizing carnival society Möbelwagen, enjoyed the procession of around 50 groups, which moved from Tübinger via Eberhardstraße across Marktplatz and Schlossplatz to Schillerplatz. When it reached the market square, the float staff and the announcer on the steps of the town hall engaged in conversations like this: “How’s the atmosphere?” “The atmosphere is excellent!” When the float then called out: “Are you having fun?” the announcer replied: “We’re having fun!”
Due to the waste management strike in Stuttgart, the city had commissioned an external company to clean up afterwards. (SN, March 5, 2025)
Police draw positive balance after Böblingen’s Rose Monday Parade
According to official estimates, around 18,000 people took part in the foolish goings-on in Böblingen’s city center on Rose Monday. “Largely peaceful” was the police’s assessment. The parade itself passed off without any particular incidents, but according to the information available so far (apart from a teenager throwing stones), there was one serious assault or attempted assault afterwards.
“Someone threw an empty bottle, but missed”, explains police spokesman Steffen Grabenstein. In addition, a young lady was allegedly groped and there was an unspecified insult.
“Compared to the overall event, this is unremarkable,” says Grabenstein.
The question of whether the rampage in Mannheim could result in the Böblingen parade being canceled at short notice was quickly clarified on Monday.
“That would have required concrete evidence that there was a danger,” says the police spokesman, referring to the already very strict security concept that is not only in place in Böblingen after the incidents of recent months.
Böblingen’s Lord Mayor Stefan Belz was also satisfied after the parade and praised the good cooperation between organizers Grün-Weiss Böblingen, the public order office, security and the police. “But,” he emphasized,” there can never be one hundred percent security.” (SN, March 5, 2025)
Strikes in daycare centers and school buildings – Stuttgart parents in need of childcare – “It really hurts”
Municipal childcare facilities are often partially or completely closed due to illness. In addition, the Verdi union, which is currently in collective bargaining with municipal employers, repeatedly calls for strikes. ‘
On March 7, which coincides with Equal Pay Day, Verdi has once again called on employees in social and educational services to strike, including professionals in Stuttgart’s municipal daycare centers and school buildings. The union also justifies the plan with the “complete blockade of the employers” at the negotiating table on all regulations regarding time and quality issues.
This dichotomy of understanding and annoyance would drive many parents crazy, says Lejla Rahmanovic from the parents’ council of the municipal daycare centers, after-school care centers and student houses in Stuttgart (GEB). For some families, the constant absences would have financial consequences if unpaid leave had to be taken or working hours reduced.
“What frustrates many is that nothing is happening,” says Lejla Rahmanovic. Felix (40) feels the same way. He and his wife have so far made up for the three strike days with vacation – or by his father making up the lost working hours in the evenings. For him, the strike days would be more bearable if the municipal daycare center that his three-year-old son attends didn’t already have 28 closing days.
“With 30 vacation days, that only leaves a two-day buffer. Every additional day of strike means that we have fewer vacation days together as a family,” says Felix. He supports the demand from the specialist staff for more pay, but not for more time off in lieu. “That would further exacerbate the staff shortage and lead to even fewer children getting a daycare place,” he says. (SN, March 5, 2025)
Over Leibnizstraße and rails – Böblingen’s Goldberg bridges to be renovated by summer
Three bridge sections cross the Goldberg over the highway, Leibnizstraße and railroad tracks. The section over the A 81 was demolished in December. Since then, only a cycle and pedestrian bridge has crossed the highway. A temporary bridge for local public transport is expected to be built by July 2025. The temporary bridge is to remain in operation until the cover over the highway between Sindelfingen and Böblingen is completed.
The city of Böblingen wants to use the time until the summer, while no buses are running there, to renovate the remaining two sections of the “Elefantenbrückle.” This is because an inspection revealed that the bridges are dilapidated and have defects. The score of 3.4 for the bridge over the railroad tracks suggests that its stability is impaired and that the damage needs to be repaired in the short term. With a score of 2.5, the bridge over Leibnizstrasse is in a slightly better position, but here too the damage needs to be repaired in the medium term. According to the city council, the road safety of both bridges is still given, but slightly impaired. In December, the municipal council voted in favor of renovating both bridges.
According to city spokesman Fabian Strauch, the contracts are currently being awarded for the work on the surface and for the renovation of the bridge bearings. However, there are two snags. The bids for the resurfacing work are higher than the planning office had estimated. Strauch speaks of a “high but economically reasonable level”. The municipal council must therefore decide on the costs again at the end of March. Originally, it had approved a budget of 483,000 Euros.
A difficulty has also arisen with the planned work on the glass roofing of the bridge over the tracks. The glass roofing is not to be replaced, but graffiti is to be removed. However, due to the special location of the bridge, which not only runs over tracks but also over power lines, the arrangements are particularly complex. Pedestrians and cyclists will still be able to cross the tracks and road at this point during the renovation work. (SN, March 5, 2025)
Baden-Württemberg – Kretschmann in favor of expanding local weapon industry in the southwest
Baden-Württemberg Minister President Winfried Kretschmann has spoken out in favor of expanding the weapon industry in the southwest. Europe must take its defense into its own hands and build up a strong defense industry – “and we want to be involved in this in Baden-Württemberg,” Kretschmann told the “Südkurier” newspaper.
“I am certain that this will become a new industrial focus for Baden-Württemberg.”
Key players are already in the state, such as “Diehl Defence”, which is based on Lake Constance and is a global leader in certain air defense systems and protects Ukrainian airspace with its missile defense. Technology leadership must be the aspiration of the entire defense industry.
Kretschmann went on to explain that he had no ethical concerns: “I have never been a pacifist,” said the Green politician. His party has been, but it has actually left the debate behind since the Kosovo war. “That’s over”, said Kretschmann.
But one thing was important to him: “We must always be concerned with defense. Expanding weapons so that we don’t have to use them must be the premise,” he said. It is about deterrence. “We don’t want to fight wars, we do it so that aggressors don’t dare to attack us.”
(SN, March 5, 2025)