Because of the tariff dispute in parts of local transport, passengers in the southwest must once again be prepared for restrictions. The Verdi union announced on Monday that work stoppages were being called for Thursday and Friday. This affects the local public transport companies in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Heilbronn, Freiburg, Baden-Baden, Esslingen and Konstanz. Verdi expects that there will be no transport service on both days.
Some high school graduates also have to look for alternatives to buses and trains: because the strike coincides with the start of the written exams. The strike announcement was preceded by a strike vote – with a clear result: around 93 percent of the union members in the local transport companies spoke in favor of the possibility of permanent contracts strikes. This means the quorum is far exceeded. There were no strikes during the four-week vote. The result makes it clear that the employees support the demands and are not willing to accept “lazy compromises,” said Verdi’s deputy regional district manager Hanna Binder. We know that this is a difficult situation for passengers. However, the transport transition can only be achieved with better working conditions.
Collective bargaining dispute since the end of January
The dispute has been going on since the end of January: After four rounds of negotiations, Verdi declared the negotiations with the municipal employers’ association (KAV) to have failed on March 11th and initiated the strike vote. The conflict has already largely paralyzed public transport in parts of the country several times. Bus and tram drivers in the cities have gone on strike on three days at the same time since the beginning of February. There were also individual warning strikes in various cities.
The union is currently negotiating new collective agreements with local public transport companies in almost all federal states. The demands differ: In the southwest, the union is calling for a fundamental reduction in weekly working hours and a shift allowance for driving services. Verdi also wants, among other things, to ensure that employees can have delays and previously unpaid travel times fully credited as working time. Around 6,500 employees are affected by the talks.