Wait longer for the bus – or in vain. This is how the day began for some of the passengers in some federal states. The reason is several collective bargaining conflicts. What do passengers have to prepare for?
The wave of warning strikes in local public transport announced by Verdi has begun with strikes in bus transport in Saarland and the Trier region. The municipal transport companies in Saarbrücken, Saarlouis, Völklingen and Neunkirchen are initially affected, as the union announced.
According to company information, the Saarbahn is also on strike. In Rhineland-Palatinate, employees at the DB Regio Bus Mitte location in Mehren and at the MB Moselbahn locations stopped work. As a result of other tariff conflicts, there are also restrictions on local transport in Schleswig-Holstein and Berlin.
Warning strikes until Saturday
Verdi has announced industrial action in all federal states except Bavaria from today until Saturday – on different days regionally. The main strike day is Friday. The regional collective bargaining rounds are about working conditions. Verdi demands shorter working hours without financial losses, longer rest periods between individual shifts, more vacation days or more vacation pay.
The union justified the warning strike in Saarland with an inadequate offer from the employers. “Many important demands from colleagues were not taken into account, including holiday pay, Saturday supplements, sick pay subsidies and the opportunity for employees subject to collective agreements to choose the better collective agreement.”
Meanwhile, in Schleswig-Holstein, a five-day warning strike began at private bus companies this morning. Verdi also called for this. The union initially assumed that there would hardly be any reliable bus transport in rural areas. Urban traffic in Kiel, Lübeck, Flensburg and Neumünster is not affected. In the morning, Verdi estimated the failures at around 85 percent. The North Bus Association, on the other hand, assumed that at least half of the bus drivers were on duty. In addition to a 35-hour week, the union is calling for shift length to be limited to ten hours in the north.
At the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), passengers have to wait longer for buses. According to the company, individual trips were canceled on subways and trams. The reason is a warning strike called by the NahVG, GKL and the civil service unions from the start of the shift at 3 a.m. The strike is expected to end around 2 p.m. The unions have also called for a demonstration in front of the House of Representatives.
Source: Stern
