In various countries in the EU, trains are currently not running due to strikes. Train drivers in Germany are on strike to demand a 31% (!) increase of their wages, in France the strike is to protest a reform of retirement plans, and next week there will be some protest from employees of the Dutch railway who want a 10% raise. While I cannot entirely judge if the demands of those people are reasonable in themselves, the consequences of their actions are not reasonable at all.

What seems pretty clear is that those on strike have not put a single moment of thought into what they are doing.

First of all, German and Dutch train personal need some huge clubbing with a cluestick. Sure, I'd love a 10% or even 31% increase in wage as well, I get underpayed, and I could really use the money. However, I am not disrupting the lives of millions of people by reducing their employment chances, income and much more, and causing serious damage to the economy in trying to achieve that.

The first issue is that that same economy will have to pay for any such raise, and if you damage it, it just gets less and less likely that it can actually pay for any raise, let alone for a 10% or even 31% raise. Believing that the rest of society can pay the price of your raise that way is simply insane.

If you have a conflict with your employer, you take action against that employer, NOT against the rest of society, esp. not when you are meanwhile asking for sympathy and support from the rest of society.

Many people who are visually or otherwise impaired depend on public transport for being able to do their job. The fact that repeated strikes make it difficult to impossible to actually get to their job makes that their employment possibilites get seriously damage,, and that in turn is causing those people (including me) hundreds if not thousands of euros less income per month. Such people cannot take their car to work simply because they cannot drive a car (try getting your drivers license with bad eyesight to just give one reason for why this is the case). Hence, those strikes cause a lot of damage for a group of people who already have a serious disadvantage for employment. If those on strike ask for sympathy, they should really put some thought into the social consequences of their actions.

Since it has become clear that we cannot count on social awareness among those who are on strike (see above), it seems no more then reasonable to 1. forbid such strikes by law, and 2. let those on strike compensate the people and companies they are damaging.

But.. everyone has a right to strike for better conditions! Sure, and everyone is responsible for the consequences of their behavior and acting in an ethically and morally responsible way. The day those who are on strike now realize that, they have an argument, till then, don't count on my sympathy, and actually, count on me despising you for being anti-social and irresponsible and causing me serious loss of income and other disadvantages (not even talking about inconvenience here, some inconvenience is not the issue).