Around 2,000 drivers stopped their work during the warning strike in the private bus industry in Rhineland-Palatinate on Thursday. The bus strikes continue unabated today – initially until February 6th.
About two-thirds of the bus drivers called for the warning strike took part on Thursday, ver.di negotiator Marko Bärschneider said. The trade union ver.di had called for the actions on Wednesday evening. Last week there was still hope in the deadlocked negotiations for the collective agreement. But according to ver.di, in a draft presented on Tuesday, the employers fell short of the regulations of the old collective agreement. The protest is expected to last until February 6th.
A number of companies at many locations in the country are affected
According to the information, all companies and locations of DB Regio Bus Mitte GmbH, DB Regio Bus Rhein-Mosel GmbH, Palatina Bus GmbH, Stadtbus Bad Kreuznach GmbH, MB Moselbahn mbH, VRW, MVB, Zickenheiner GmbH, BVB Verkehrsgesellschaft GmbH, eurobus Verkehrs-Service GmbH Rheinland-Pfalz, Stadtbus Zweibrücken GmbH, koveb from Koblenz and Orthen Reisen. Overland and shuttle bus services are also affected.
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The Koblenz public transport company alone would have to cancel about half of the trips, according to a statement. Student transportation is a priority. Some lines are therefore completely canceled, on others the timetable is thinned out. Other regions are also affected by the strike, such as the Neuwied district, the Rhein-Hunsrück district and the Westerwald district.
Payment also required for idle times
Among other things, the union demands that drivers be paid for idle times, i.e. if the journey is interrupted during a shift. In addition, the shift lengths should be limited. Negotiator Bärschneider said that the bus drivers have been without a collective agreement for 1,114 days.
“Putting the Gun to the Chest”
The Association of Employers’ Associations in the Transport Industry (VAV), on the other hand, said that the union “put the gun on your chest” during the negotiations on Wednesday. The question of refinancing is still unresolved. The individual points would have to be negotiated without time pressure, after all it is about fundamental changes in the framework conditions in the industry, which has already been badly hit by the corona pandemic, said Managing Director Heiko Nagel.
In the past few months, there have been repeated failures at private bus companies. The collective bargaining agreement was terminated in 2019. After protracted arguments, both sides had agreed on a collective wage agreement last November.
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The week ends with strikes at the private bus companies – the new week after the school holidays could start with new strikes.
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