After the train driver strike ended, tram, subway and bus drivers in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Kassel and Gießen have now stopped work – for three days. “Completely excessive,” criticize the employers.
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Subways, trams and buses: strike paralyzes local transport
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Commuters face strenuous days in local transport: the Verdi union has again called on its members to go on a warning strike. The cities affected are Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Kassel and Gießen.
Employees stopped work at the start of the early shift on Wednesday, and the strike is expected to last until the end of the late shift on the night from Friday to Saturday. In Frankfurt, the entrances to subway stations remained completely closed on Wednesday, and trams also did not run.
Largely standstill in Wiesbaden bus traffic
The local public transport company traffiq announced for Frankfurt that the city’s bus routes are expected to run. Experience has shown that the regional buses that drive into Frankfurt are also “on line,” it was said.
In addition to Frankfurt, the strike also affects Wiesbaden, Kassel and parts of Giessen. In Kassel, serious restrictions on buses and trains are to be expected during the strike, said a spokeswoman for the Kasseler Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (KVG).
In Giessen, the buses should run according to the Saturday schedule during the strike, as the local municipal utility announced. In Wiesbaden, bus traffic is largely expected to come to a standstill; only individual lines from partner companies are allowed to operate, as the bus company ESWE Verkehr announced.
Verdi: Offer inadequate
Verdi is missing “important key points” in the latest offer from municipal employers, it said in the Frankfurt strike call. The offer is inadequate “in terms of relief and pay groups”.
In the ongoing collective bargaining dispute, the union is demanding, among other things, a 35-hour week. The last strike in Frankfurt was only a short time ago: trams and subways last stood still from March 1st to 3rd.
What Verdi demands, what the employers’ association offers
Verdi’s demands:
- The lowest three salary groups for drivers and administrative staff are to be eliminated and the starting salary is to be increased by around 200 euros.
- Long employment should be encouraged with an additional experience level (6) and a wage increase of 4.5 percent.
- The 13th monthly salary should be increased to 100 percent.
- The weekly working time should be reduced to 35 hours with full wage compensation.
- Split shifts with long breaks should not exceed eleven hours and drivers should receive a surcharge of 30 euros.
The offer of the Municipal Employers Association (KAV):
- Among other things, the 13th monthly salary for pay groups 1 and 2 is to be increased to 100 percent, and for groups 3 to 15 to 80 percent.
- The time allowance for Sunday work should be increased from 25 to 50 percent.
- For employees who have been with the company for more than ten years, a further day of relief is to be introduced with continued payment of wages (without surcharges).
- The uninterrupted rest period between two shifts should be extended from 10 to 11 hours.
- The surcharge for shared services is to be increased from 5 to 13 euros.
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KAV: “Strikes completely excessive”
The Municipal Employers’ Association (KAV) in Hesse described the renewed strikes in local transport on Tuesday as “completely excessive” and called for an “immediate return to the negotiating table”.
At the last negotiation date at the beginning of March, a “comprehensive offer” was presented, which Verdi accepted as a basis for further negotiations from March 25th. The union did not approach the KAV to speed up this process.
Verdi negotiator Jochen Koppel told the hr on Wednesday that the KAV’s statements were incorrect. In their offer, the employers also describe agreements that have already been made as new accommodation.
Major strike on Tuesday
Just in time for the new strike in local transport, at least the nationwide strike by train drivers ended on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday there was a largely standstill in long-distance, regional and S-Bahn traffic. There were also hundreds of cancellations at Frankfurt Airport on Tuesday due to the Lufthansa cabin crew strike.
hessenschau update – The newsletter for Hesse
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