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Tomorrow Tuesday there will not be a single metro in Munich, at least not until 6 pm The Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG) announced it in response to a strike by Verdi. Already on Sunday he had advised avoiding buses, trams and subways on Tuesday, without knowing exactly who and when a strike would be called. Meanwhile, Verdi has announced that the strike will last from early in the morning until 6 in the afternoon. According to the MVG, “considerable restrictions” can also be assumed for trams and buses. She recommends switching to other means of transportation.
“Unions should be asked how a warning strike in Corona’s time can be justified” if they called for a major labor dispute, MVG boss Ingo Wortmann said on Sunday. Because then many lines would have to be closed and space would be at a premium in the remaining vehicles.
Regardless of how many drivers respond to the strike call, MVG will cease metro operations during the day. This is what he had done in the last drivers’ strike in the summer of 2019: to prevent the crowds from rushing to the platforms. In the case of trams and buses, non-striking drivers “will initially focus on individual lines,” MVG said at the weekend.
Werner Albrecht, chief of staff of the municipal company, to which MVG belongs, accused the Verdi union of “not being interested in the matter, but in escalation.” Because previous conversations about a new collective agreement for local public transport in Bavaria, as well as a new company collective agreement at MVG, have been “calm and constructive”. Both are decisive for the Munich drivers, both expired at the end of June.
Verdi, on the other hand, called Albrecht’s accusation “an utter hoax.” Because the planned warning strike is part of the German-wide attempt to conclude a nationwide framework collective agreement on local transport, said Verdi expert Kai Winkler. The municipalities have so far refused to accept this. “They tried to stop us. And if the employers refuse, a strike is a perfectly legitimate means.”
Strikes in more than 30 kindergartens in Munich
In addition, Verdi and the GEW union are calling for a full-day warning strike in the public sector in Munich this Monday: in some clinics, parts of the city administration, municipal public services, libraries and municipal facilities of childcare. Turnout here is clearly higher than the unions had apparently thought. According to the city’s education department, at least 27 daycare centers remained completely closed on Monday and individual groups remained closed in another seven. Yet that was the state at 11 am – according to a spokeswoman, only half of the roughly 500 municipal nurseries in Munich had information available by then.
Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) had flogged Friday’s announcement that he would also go on strike with daycare centers: he believes that “right now, in the midst of one of the biggest health crises in the world and after months of care emergency and a difficult situation for parents, it is simple because it is irresponsible. ” He also posted this statement on his Facebook page and received strong criticism.
As a member of the SPD, how could one be against improving the social professions? Reiter should work with the city council to improve the pay of educators. Anne Hübner, leader of the SPD parliamentary group in the town hall, responded in the debate that they had achieved a work allowance of 200 euros and a double Munich allowance of 270 euros in addition to the standard salary.
