Passengers on buses, trams and subways in Berlin must expect restrictions even before the nationwide warning strike on Thursday and Friday. The NahVG, gkl and dbb civil service unions have called for a warning strike on Monday from the start of the shift at 3 a.m. to 2 p.m. At the same time, they called for a demonstration in front of the House of Representatives.
In the collective bargaining dispute, the unions want to put more pressure on their demands for, among other things, two additional days of vacation, higher weekend and holiday surcharges and 100 percent compensation for all official working hours. The effects of the warning strike are still difficult to predict. However, according to the BVG, restrictions are to be expected. According to their own statements, the transport companies try to compensate for short-term disruptions.
The BVG described the unions’ call for strike as “completely disproportionate”. Anyone calling for a warning strike at such short notice is accepting that many people will be unprepared for the work stoppage at the start of the week. During the negotiations so far, the parties have already come close on many points. “We now have to assess for ourselves the extent to which the unnecessary strike call, which was far too short-term in the interests of the passengers, will burden the planned further talks.”
Another warning strike on subways, buses and trams is imminent in the second half of the week. The Verdi union has called on BVG employees and those at the subsidiary Berlin Transport to go on an all-day warning strike on February 29th and March 1st until 2 p.m. The background is also the ongoing collective bargaining. The company is negotiating with Verdi about the employees’ working conditions.
Verdi will also strike on local public transport in all other federal states except Bavaria on March 1st, as the union announced on Thursday. The coordinated approach is intended to increase the pressure on all employers with whom negotiations are currently taking place. Since the collective agreement in Bavaria has not yet been terminated, local transport there is not affected by strikes.