There will be numerous cancellations in German local transport on Monday. The background is warning strikes that Verdi called for.
Next Monday, passengers in numerous German cities will have to prepare for widespread disruptions in local public transport. In the ongoing collective bargaining dispute for local public transport, the Verdi union has announced all-day warning strikes at many municipal transport companies and district bus companies.
According to the union’s assessment, it is to be expected that buses and trains will largely come to a standstill in the affected companies.
The German railway is not affected by the strike. The group announced that S-Bahn trains in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, Nuremberg and the Rhine-Main area as well as DB’s regional and long-distance services should run as planned. These companies do not fall within Verdi’s organizational area and are therefore not part of the current industrial action.
Warning strikes in local transport: Lower Saxony not affected
Verdi is negotiating in all 16 federal states – mainly with local employers’ associations – about new regulations for around 100,000 employees in around 150 municipal transport companies and bus companies, including the city states of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen.
There won’t be strikes everywhere on Monday: According to Verdi, around 5,000 local transport workers in Lower Saxony are still subject to peacekeeping obligations, so no work stoppages are planned there for the time being. In Hamburg, a decision on the elevated railway is still pending; Depending on how the negotiations progress, Verdi will announce later in the day whether a warning strike will also be called there on February 2nd.
Verdi demands better working conditions
The focus is on better working conditions, such as shorter weekly working hours and shift lengths, longer rest periods and higher surcharges for night, weekend and holiday work. In some federal states such as Bavaria, Brandenburg, Saarland, Thuringia and the Hamburger Hochbahn, it is also about higher wages and Salaries.
With the nationwide actions, the union wants to increase the pressure on employers. Verdi speaks of a first escalation stage in the tariff conflict – passengers have to prepare for full platforms, failures and set longer travel times.
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