Strike planned until Sunday: Strikes paralyze local public transport in Germany

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More than 130 municipal companies were affected, including bus, metro and tram traffic in 81 cities and 42 districts. Verdi wants to put pressure on employers in the current collective labor agreement negotiations.

In most states, companies were on strike all day, and some companies even wanted to continue the strike until work started on Sunday morning. The strike was officially supported by the climate protection movement Fridays for Future.

The Berlin public transport company halted work until 10 a.m. However, after the end of the strike at internet service X, the Berlin-Brandenburg transport association warned that isolated irregularities could still occur afterwards.

Verdi Nord spoke of the “most successful warning strike in recent years” in the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Employers must “finally put constructive and above all acceptable offers on the table for sustainable public transport,” the union demanded.

Verdi Baden-Württemberg mainly referred to the shortage of skilled workers in the sector: by 2030, municipal transport companies would have a shortage of around 2,000 employees for current line activities alone. Hundreds of trained drivers also leave the industry every year. “This clearly shows that there is something wrong with the current working conditions,” the regional association criticized. “The burden, the responsibility and the stress don’t match the pay.”

The Federal Statistical Office also warned about the aging of bus and tram drivers. In 2022, approximately 40 percent of bus and train drivers were 55 years or older. On average, this age group represents only just under 26 percent of all employed people.

According to the information, the offspring are missing. Only 14 percent of tram and bus drivers are younger than 35 years old. In general, the share of 15 to 34 year olds is more than twice as high at 30 percent, the authority also announced. In addition to young people, women are also underrepresented in the profession.

Germany is currently experiencing many labor disputes. Only on Thursday did security staff go on strike at eleven German airports, leading to massive restrictions on air traffic. Last week, Deutsche Bahn train drivers went on strike again.

Against the background of the fact that local transport is currently affected, the FDP called for stricter strike rights. “Strikes of this type and on this scale therefore raise the question of proportionality and therefore the question of whether legal regulation is necessary,” Pascal Kober, spokesperson for the FDP faction’s labor market policy, told the Tagesspiegel. (SDA)

Source: Blick