The Verdi trade union announced a warning strike for local public transport in Munich on Tuesday in order to emphasize its demands in the current wage dispute. From Thursday morning at 3.30 a.m. until Friday at midnight, the employees of the Munich transport company (MVG) are called upon to stop working in buses, subways and trams. The S-Bahn, which is operated by Deutsche Bahn, is not affected. School buses should also run according to plan, said union secretary Franz Schütz, chief negotiator for Verdi Munich.
In the state capital, the union is fighting for improvements in the in-house wage agreement of the MVG and in the area wage agreement for Bavaria. The demand on the MVG is very simple, as Franz Schütz finds: to apply the collective bargaining agreement, which is better from the employee’s point of view, to the Munich employees as well.
The union announced the warning strike at a joint press conference with the climate alliance Fridays for Future and the anti-capitalist climate meeting in Munich. “There is a close cooperation,” explained the local Verdi managing director Heinrich Birner: “There is no climate protection without a traffic turnaround. And there is no traffic turnaround without local public transport.”
On Friday there will also be a strike for the climate
In Munich, the new alliance is also taking part in the “global climate strike” planned nationwide for Friday: the demonstration for more climate protection and a rapid turnaround in mobility begins at 12 noon on Odeonsplatz. After the opening rally, the assembly moves through the city center and back to the Feldherrnhalle, where the closing speeches are to be held at 2:45 p.m.
Jana Häfner, spokeswoman for Fridays for Future, explained the new cooperation: “We need public transport that picks everyone up. That’s why we support the employees, because without them there can be no traffic turnaround.” Lisa Pöttinger from the anti-capitalist climate meeting pointed out the need for a turnaround in traffic, especially in Munich, “the most congested city in Germany”. She emphasized: “We want to make it clear that our goals belong together. We also oppose exploitation.”
Cornelius Müller, member of the Verdi executive committee and active in the federal specialist group for buses and trains, explained: “We need more attractive salaries in order to get staff at all. And we need better working conditions, otherwise we will not reach our goal” – and that is, to the end of the decade to make public transport the number one means of transport. Alfred Köhler, a member of the collective bargaining commission, warned that the traffic turnaround would fail “due to a lack of staff and poor working conditions”. He reported an increasing fluctuation at MVG. Franz Schütz said: “We are assuming that there will be a high level of willingness to go on strike.”
As the MVG announced on Tuesday, at least part of the bus service should be maintained during the strike. On the other hand, all journeys on the subway would have to be stopped for safety reasons in order to avoid overcrowded platforms. Whether operations will start at a later date depends on the number of staff available in the control center and in the driving service – that can only be decided at short notice.
Should the MVG start operations, then initially on the lines U3 and U6, which in this case should run every ten minutes.
Buses every 20 minutes – but not all
With the tram, MVG is trying to run at least the most popular line 20 and line 25 from Ostfriedhof to Grünwald. The buses are to run on all lines every 20 minutes, only the City-Ring 58/68 and the express bus X30 are omitted. For night lines, priority is given to lines N40, N72 and N80/81. Depending on staff availability, individual vehicles also run on other lines.
“In view of the climate crisis, we want and must implement the traffic turnaround,” said MVG boss Ingo Wortmann: “On the other hand, there is a lack of solid financing and staff – both are essential in order to be able to achieve the goals. In these two points we agree with the Verdi union and will also take this into account in our offer.” Werner Albrecht, who sits at the table for Stadtwerke München (SWM) and MVG during the collective bargaining and has noticed a “constructive atmosphere” there, regrets that the union is calling on its members to go on a warning strike: “It’s annoying, because people are suffering from it especially the passengers.”
The MVG provides information during the strike mvg.de and on Facebook about the current operating situation. Passengers can also find up-to-date information in the MVG Fahrinfo Munich app and on Twitter. MVG will also inform its passengers about the restrictions via electronic displays and announcements.
