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SedanAfter the warning strike is before the warning strike: this was announced by the Verdi union when around 4,000 employees of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) stopped working on September 29. It was not an empty promise. On Tuesday, Verdi announced that the metro and trams, as well as most regular buses, will once again remain in depots on Friday. Since three in the morning, BVG said that no bicycle should move for 24 hours. Operations will only start again on Saturday morning. With the strike, the union is monitoring better working conditions in the national collective bargaining conflict. Unlike other German cities, the first warning strike in this dispute lasted only nine hours in Berlin. Now the BVG has been paralyzed for longer.
As on September 29, public transport companies are on strike in the state of Brandenburg; this time, however, not for 24 hours, but until Friday around 12 noon. According to Verdi, the following companies will be affected by the upcoming warning strike: ViP Verkehrsbetriebe Potsdam GmbH, Regiobus Potsdam Mittelmark GmbH, Havelbus Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH and the transport company Brandenburg an der Havel GmbH. At all other Brandenburg transport companies, operations are expected to proceed normally, the union said.
S-Bahn trains and dozens of BVG bus routes will remain in operation
S-Bahn and regional trains run regularly on Fridays, are not owned by the state’s own BVG and are not affected by the fare dispute. These railways can serve as an alternative for passengers. This also applies to bus routes in Berlin, which are operated by private bus companies on behalf of BVG. Overall, it accounts for about eight percent of the bus traffic in the capital.
During the warning strike on Tuesday of last week, the following BVG routes were operated without any restrictions: 106, 112, 140, 161, 163, 168, 175, 179, 184, 234, 275, 284, 334, 341, 349, 363, 369, 370, 371, 380, 399, 740, 744, N12, N23, N34, N35, N39, N40, N52, N53, N56, N58, N60, N61, N62, N67, N68, N69, N77, N84, N88, N90, N91, N95 and N97. There were restrictions on the following bus routes: 218, 283, 395 and 398. Friday’s warning strike is expected to be similar. BVG ferries will also run regularly. They are also not operated by the state company, but operate on its behalf.
After the warning strike by local public transport workers on September 29, the Association of Municipal Employers’ Associations (VKA) was not yet ready to negotiate a national collective agreement, Verdi said. The conflict of collective bargaining in local transport has to do with working conditions. Verdi requires uniform regulations at the national level on issues such as the promotion of young talents, the relief, as well as compensation for overtime and shift assignments.
“Radical traffic change and demographic change remain the main challenges for local public transport in Berlin and Brandenburg,” said Jeremy Arndt, Verdi’s Head of Transport in Berlin and Brandenburg. “To meet the next staffing need and not compete with each other, you need uniform standards for working conditions. This is the only way to hire the necessary skilled workers and keep existing staff. Currently, poor working conditions routinely cause high levels of sick leave. These also have an impact on line performance and lead to driver cancellations, ”says Jeremy Arndt.
Compared to 2000, the number of employees has decreased by 18 percent, while the number of passengers has increased by a quarter in the same period, according to Verdi. Due to stress, there are above-average levels of illness and the accumulation of overtime. The situation threatens to get worse, because the average age in companies is 49, which means that one in two employees will retire in 2030.
