Passengers in Hesse have to prepare for delays and cancellations: The Verdi union has announced a strike on local transport. In Frankfurt, subways and trams will probably be affected. There is a threat of standstill in Kassel.
Public transport passengers have to prepare for cancellations in several cities in Hesse on Friday. The Verdi union called on staff to go on a warning strike.
Verdi Hesse said the cities of Kassel, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt and Offenbach were mainly affected. Drivers of buses, provided they are publicly operated, as well as subway and tram drivers are called to strike.
There is a strike here
- Die Frankfurt transport company (VGF) announced on Tuesday that in Frankfurt All subways and trams will probably come to a standstill. On the other hand, S-Bahn trains, regional trains and the city bus lines were not affected by the strike on Friday. According to VGF, they “can certainly help in many ways as an alternative”. Buses in particular can get crowded.
- In Kassel Neither buses nor trains are expected to be on the road. The Kasseler Verkehrs-Gesellschaft announced that serious restrictions are to be expected. It is unclear whether the RegioTrams can travel to the main station – but the inner-city trips will certainly be cancelled.
- In Offenbach According to the Rhine-Main Transport Association, bus traffic is affected.
- Also on buses Wiesbaden strong impacts are expected. “Passengers must expect that no buses will run on the ESWE Verkehr route network from the start of operations early on Friday morning until the end of operations at around 3 a.m. on Saturday morning,” said a company spokesman on Tuesday.
New pay group and 35-hour week required
Since Monday, the union and the Hesse Municipal Employers’ Association have been negotiating the general working conditions of around 8,000 employees in local public transport, which are set out in the so-called collective agreement. It’s not about fundamentally higher wages in Hesse. They were already negotiated last spring.
However, Verdi is now calling for the lowest three pay groups for drivers and administrative staff to be eliminated. Beginners would then start with the current level 3 salary, which, according to Verdi, is around 200 euros more.
If you have been with the company for a long time, the union is calling for an additional, higher pay group to be introduced, with wages that should be 4.5 percent higher than the current highest pay group. According to criticism, it currently makes no difference whether someone has been with the company for 15 or 40 years.
In addition, Verdi is demanding a full 13th monthly salary, shortening weekly working hours to 35 hours with full wage compensation and limiting split working hours, i.e. work with several hours of break, to a total of a maximum of eleven hours. According to the demand, there should also be a surcharge of 30 euros for such shifts.
Strikes in all federal states except Bavaria
The union argues that the burden on employees and the staff shortage in local public transport have increased and that the work pressure is increasing. Solutions for relief must be found quickly.
The strike also affects all other federal states except Bavaria, where collective bargaining has been ongoing in parallel since Monday. The collective bargaining round affects over 130 municipal companies nationwide and a total of around 90,000 employees in cities and districts. Since January 1, 2024, there is no longer any obligation to make peace in the collective bargaining dispute.
Train drivers’ strike just ended
It was only this Monday that the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL) prematurely ended its multi-day strike at Deutsche Bahn. A peace obligation now applies there until March 3rd. However, Verdi labor disputes are still possible in local and regional transport.
Train traffic returns to normal after rail strike
After the train drivers’ strike, operations at the railway are largely back to normal. The GDL does not want to go on strike again until the beginning of March. There is a threat of strikes in public transport.
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