;Resize=(1200,627)&impolicy=perceptual&quality=medium&hash=3538c666c6f36e9898aa251520ad18ae2f22e7b1aafdabdf1fca2a850f6d576f "Warning strike in the ticker: Warning strikes paralyze local transport in Saxon cities")
warning strikes paralyze local transport in five Saxon cities
Saturday, March 4th, 2023, 9.43 a.m.: Many buses and trains stood still on Friday. Verdi wanted to use warning strikes to put pressure on the wage dispute for the public sector. The Verdi boss spoke of an “insane participation”. The warning strike by the Verdi union largely paralyzed local transport in five Saxon cities on Friday. “The DVB vehicles are standing still,” said Falk Loesch, spokesman for the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (DVB), on Friday morning. Accordingly, there were no trams in the state capital and four fifths of the bus traffic were canceled. Only a few buses operated by subcontractors are on the road, said Loesch.
The regular tram and bus services in Leipzig were also discontinued, as announced by the Leipzig Transport Authority (LVB). Verdi had also called for a all-day warning strike in local transport in Chemnitz, Zwickau and Plauen. There were also warning strikes in five other federal states. The union wants to put pressure on in the collective bargaining conflict for the public service of the municipalities and the federal government.
Verdi boss Frank Werneke spoke on Friday afternoon of an “insane participation”. Almost all employees whom Verdi had called for a warning strike followed the call, he said at the state district conference of the union in Leipzig. Delegates from the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia took part in the conference.
In the negotiations for the approximately 2.5 million employees, Verdi and the civil servants’ association dbb are demanding 10.5 percent more income, but at least 500 euros more per month. There was no agreement in the second round of negotiations last week. The unions had rejected an offer from the employers as insufficient. This included, among other things, a pay increase of five percent in two steps and one-off payments totaling 2,500 euros.
Deputy Verdi chairwoman Christine Behle defended the wage demand on Friday. The transport companies are already lacking staff. “If we don’t achieve a decent result, even more people will decide against working here,” Behle said on the sidelines of a strike rally in a Leipzig tram station.
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She does not see the danger that substantial wage increases could ultimately lead to higher ticket prices. On the one hand, public transport is only partially financed by ticket sales anyway, and on the other hand, the 49-euro ticket will have a dampening effect, said Behle.
The trade unionist also rejected criticism of joint action with Fridays for Future. The warning strikes ran parallel to climate protests on Friday. “I think this criticism is a huge mistake,” said Behle. Fridays for Future is committed to better public transport financing, the transport companies should actually stand by the side of the climate activists.
The general manager of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA), Steffen Kampeter, had criticized the joint day of action as a “dangerous crossing of borders”. Political or even quasi-political strikes are simply illegal in Germany.
In Saxony, further warning strikes are already emerging in the coming week, for example in regional bus services in the Leipzig region. In addition, work in municipal daycare centers is to be stopped on Wednesday. The education union GEW Sachsen is calling for this. Educators in Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz and in the surrounding area should take part in the warning strike. The employers had recently presented an unacceptable offer, said the state chair of GEW Saxony, Uschi Kruse. “The educational professionals are outraged that, despite the immense price increases, only a small wage increase is being offered.”
Verdi: Warning strikes in day care centers and social institutions on Wednesday
1:34 p.m.: The Verdi services union has called for nationwide warning strikes in daycare centers and social facilities for next Wednesday. The warning strikes are a reaction “to the completely inadequate offer from the employers from the second round of negotiations for public sector employees,” Verdi said on Friday in Berlin. Accordingly, there could be restrictions on operations and closures.
Verdi and the civil servants’ association dbb are demanding 10.5 percent more income for the approximately 2.5 million employees, but at least 500 euros more per month. There had been no rapprochement in the second round of negotiations last week.
Deputy Verdi Chairwoman Christine Behle described the employer’s offer as a “provocation”. The employees urgently needed more money “to pay for the sharply increased prices for rent, energy and food.” According to Verdi, the warning strikes will take place on International Women’s Day, since women work predominantly with a share of 83 percent in social work.
The trade union is also organizing demonstrations and rallies throughout Germany on March 8 this year together with the women’s organizations of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and feminist alliances.
So far it is known that there will be strikes in Hamburg, Bavaria (Munich), North Rhine-Westphalia (Cologne, Bonn, Troisdorf, Hennef and Gummersbach), Saxony (Chemnitz, Dresden, Freital, Erzgebirge and Central Saxony).
In Cologne there is even a two-day strike, on Monday (March 6th) three daycare centers will start and on Wednesday (March 8th) all daycare centers will go on strike.
Daycare centers closed next week: Verdi is calling for major warning strikes
12:32 p.m.: Parents of daycare children and users of social facilities will have to be prepared for considerable restrictions next Wednesday in Hamburg. The Verdi trade union called on employees in social and educational services to go on nationwide warning strikes on International Women’s Day. The trade union announced on Friday in Hamburg that they were reacting to what they considered to be a completely inadequate offer from employers from the second round of negotiations for employees in the public sector at federal and local level. After a rally at 9.30 a.m. with Hamburg’s new Verdi boss Sandra Goldschmidt on the Gänsemarkt, a demonstration march to the union building was planned.
Employees of the Elbkinder daycare centers, the Ballin Foundation, the ASB daycare centers, the Studierendenwerk, the Hamburger Schulverein and the Asklepios daycare centers have been called to the warning strike. Employees of the social services Funding and Housing, Living with Disability Hamburg, Lebenshilfewerk, Alida Schmidt Foundation and Elbe Workshops are also to lay down their work. Verdi says it expects around 2,500 strikers. Entire facilities could therefore be closed.
In the social and educational service, more than 80 percent of the employees are still women, said Verdi department head Hilke Stein. Today, as 100 years ago, it is about enforcing more respect, more equality and better pay on International Women’s Day. “With the warning strike in the social and educational services, we want to make it clear that the employees are ready to fight for their demand for 10.5 percent, but at least 500 euros more,” emphasized Stein. The employer side has so far offered a pay increase of five percent in two steps and one-off payments totaling 2,500 euros.
Warning strikes in the big Bavarian cities
09.48 am: The warning strikes in local public transport paralyzed buses and – where available – trams and subways in several Bavarian cities on Friday. The Verdi union is fighting for significantly higher wages, but also better financing of public transport. Some strikers want to take part in the Fridays for Future climate protection demonstrations, which have also been announced for Friday.
The Munich transport company has reported massive restrictions on buses for the second day in a row. The subway and tram were out of service. In the morning, the situation was exacerbated by an emergency doctor’s call on the main S-Bahn line, which then had to be temporarily closed from around 7.30 a.m. – in the middle of rush hour traffic. As a result, the S-Bahn trains that were not affected by the strike for the route to Munich city center were temporarily eliminated. They turned in front of the main route or drove around it. There were cancellations and delays. By the morning, the situation on the S-Bahn had largely normalized.
The Augsburg Transport and Tariff Association reported that local transport in the city had come to an almost complete standstill. With a few exceptions, no trams and city buses are in use. In the early morning, instead of around 140, only six buses from Stadtwerke Augsburg started.
The transport association Greater Nuremberg (VGN) is affected in several cities, but not the regional train service and the S-Bahn. According to the VGN, all vehicles remain in the depot in Nuremberg and Bamberg. There were restricted strike timetables in Erlangen, Fürth and Bayreuth.
In Regensburg, all inner-city bus routes operated by the municipal utility will be canceled all day on Friday. In Ingolstadt, the INVG expected massive failures.
Parallel to the warning strikes in public transport, warning strikes in the public sector have been announced for Friday – also by Verdi, but in a different wage dispute. Among other things, the garbage disposal in Munich and the Stadtwerke Regensburg are affected. The bathrooms there, among other things, remain closed.
More information about the warning strikes can be found on the second page.
