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STRIKES

Frankfurt and Hesse to be hit by three-day local transport strike

Services union Verdi has announced a three-day strike on local transport that will affect commuters in Frankfurt and Hesse from Wednesday.

Published: 12 March 2024 11:46 CET
U-Bahn Verdi strike in Frankfurt
A sign in the U-Bahn informs passengers of the Verdi strike action in Frankfurt on March 2nd, 2024. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Helmut Fricke

With a national Deutsche Bahn strike affecting rail services around the country and Lufthansa staff walking off the job this week, it’s set to be a tough couple of days for commuters and holidaymakers alike.

For residents of the central state of Hesse, the situation is about to get even tougher, with a three-day strike on local public transport running from Wednesday March 13th to the end of the night shift on Saturday morning (March 16th).

The warning strike was called by services union Verdi as part of an ongoing battle over pay and conditions for local transport workers.

In Frankfurt, local operator VGF announced that no U-Bahn trains or trams would be running for the duration of the strikes, but buses within the city and serving the surrounding regions are expected to run on schedule.

According to Verdi, other major cities in Hesse will also be hit by the strike.

In addition to Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Kassel and parts of Gießen will all be affected.

In Wiesbaden and Gießen, distruption is expected on local bus services, while the action in Kassel will affect both buses and trams.

READ ALSO: Germany braces for new week of strikes in rail and air travel

‘Inadequate offer’ 

The latest round of industrial action is the second this month to affect U-Bahns and trams in the Hessian capital. 

The previous transport strike in the city ran for two days from March 1st to March 3rd. 

Though the municipal transport operators have presented Verdi with a new offer in their current dispute, the union quickly rejected the proposals, saying they lacked “important key points” and were “inadequate in terms of (inflation) relief and pay groups”. 

Alongside better pay to compensate for inflation, the union is demanding a 35-hour week for workers.

This is also a demand of the GDL train drivers’ union, which is engaged in a months-long struggle with German rail operator Deutsche Bahn over pay and working hours.

The latest GDL strike kicked off on Tuesday at 2am and is set to run until Wednesday at 2am, causing major disruption on long-distance, regional and S-Bahn rail services. 

READ ALSO: How likely are strikes in Germany over Easter weekend?

Meanwhile, ground staff at Lufthansa will go on strike on both Tuesday and Wednesday in an ongoing battle for higher wages.

The strike will affect Germany’s two busiest airports – Frankfurt and Munich – and will cause as many as 1,000 flight cancellations over the two days. 

Member comments

  1. Include the dates would be helpful. Is it Wednesday March 13 or Wednesday March 20? Or is this an old story.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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