The unprecedented crisis spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany will continue through the next year, the German ver.di trade union said in a statement on Wednesday
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2020) The unprecedented crisis spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany will continue through the next year, the German ver.di trade union said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The society is currently at the beginning of an unprecedented crisis. The threat to health is by no means prevented, the infection process is likely to continue next year. The economic consequences of this crisis are not predictable, but we can expect that the emerging recession will hit many sectors and the unemployment rate will grow rapidly," the statement obtained by Sputnik read.
It added that a fair distribution of costs was the trade unions' top priority.
"We will do our best to avoid paying off the crisis at the expense of employees only. We, as trade unions, advocate a fair distribution of costs," ver.di, which has about 160,000 members, said.
The trade union is expecting a surge in the number of unemployment claims.
A study by the German economic institute Ifo showed on Tuesday that the country's economic output had already plunged by 16 percent due to the shutting of businesses amid the pandemic.
Germany is among the countries with the highest number of coronavirus infections, counting over 157,000 cases and 6,115 deaths from the disease, according to the Robert Koch Institute.
