Buses and trams are set to come to a standstill across Germany on Monday after the services union Verdi called for nationwide strikes in local public transport at the start of the week. The union said on Friday that the action is intended to increase pressure on employers in the ongoing collective bargaining round affecting nearly 100,000 employees in 150 city-owned transport companies and bus operators. Employers criticised the call to strike as disproportionate.
Negotiations have been underway since November, largely with the Municipal Employers’ Associations (KAV) in all 16 federal states. Verdi is demanding significantly improved working conditions in local public transport, including shorter weekly working hours and shorter shifts, longer rest periods, and higher bonuses for night and weekend work. In Bavaria, Brandenburg, Saarland, Thuringia and at Hamburg’s Hochbahn, negotiations also include higher wages and salaries.
According to the union, 150 city transport companies and rural district bus operators, as well as transport providers in the city-states of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen, will be affected. Verdi expects local transport in the affected companies to “come to a standstill”.
“Employees in public transport face heavy strain due to extremely unfavourable working hours, shift work and constant time pressure,” said Verdi deputy chair Christine Behle. “We urgently need improvements to stop the high turnover and to once again attract reliable skilled workers for local public transport.” Behle said employers have so far refused almost all improvements in the negotiations. She warned of a “tough round” if talks do not progress. “With the call to strike, we are sending a clear signal of determination,” Behle said.
The Berlin Association of Employers’ Associations (UVB) criticised the planned warning strikes. “Bringing local public transport to a halt nationwide during freezing temperatures and icy roads and sidewalks requires a special kind of emotional coldness on the part of the union Verdi,” said deputy managing director Andreas Schulz. He called on the union to withdraw the strike call and urged Verdi to pursue its “goals at the negotiating table”.
Verdi said the strikes will begin with the early shift on Monday and last until the end of the late shift, extending in some cases into early Tuesday. Only around 5,000 employees in Lower Saxony are not taking part because a peace obligation remains in place. Strikes at Hamburg’s Hochbahn will depend on the outcome of ongoing negotiations.
In Berlin, services operated by the BVG, including the underground, trams and buses, will be affected on Monday, though the S-Bahn will not be. The BVG criticised the warning strikes as an “unreasonable escalation” and said it was examining possible legal steps.
Sixteen transport companies in Brandenburg will also be affected, with strike rallies planned in Potsdam and Cottbus. In Hesse, Verdi expects walkouts in Kassel, Gießen, Marburg, Wiesbaden and Frankfurt. In Baden-Württemberg, strikes are planned in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Heilbronn, Freiburg, Baden-Baden, Esslingen and Konstanz.
In Cologne, no light rail services will run from 3:00 a.m. on Monday, according to the local transport operator. Customer centres will remain closed. The Cologne transport authority said passengers could switch to S-Bahn and regional train services. In northern Germany, buses and trams will also be halted in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, with a central strike rally planned in Lübeck.
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