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More commuter chaos expected during all-day Berlin strike

Commuters in Berlin and Brandenburg will be faced with yet more disruption as public transport workers walk out for the second time in two weeks.

Published: 8 October 2020 16:03 CEST
More commuter chaos expected during all-day Berlin strike
Public transport strikes have taken place in eight German states this week. Photo: DPA

The trade union Verdi, which represents around 87,000 workers from 130 public transport companies, announced the strikes on Tuesday.

In Berlin, all trams and U-Bahn lines, as well as most busses, will come to a standstill for 24 hours from 3am on Friday. The strike in Brandenburg will last from 3am until noon.

Not every public transport service will be affected, however. In the capital, S-Bahn lines and regional trains will continue to run, as well as bus lines run by private companies.

READ ALSO: Public transport strikes across Germany cause major disruption

The following bus lines will be running as normal in Berlin:

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, N97 

In Brandenburg, the list of companies taking part in the strike limited to the following:

  • ViP Verkehrsbetriebe Potsdam GmbH

  • Regiobus Potsdam Mittelmark GmbH

  • Havelbus Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH

  • die Verkehrsbetriebe Brandenburg an der Havel GmbH

Call for negotiations

Verdi hopes that further ‘warning strikes’ – or a lead up to further actions – will put pressure on public service employers to agree to their demands.

The trade union is calling for a nationwide standard pay for its workers to combat growing discrepancies in wages between different states.

Other demands include extra leave or special bonuses to relieve the strain on employees, as well as policies focussing on the recruitment and development of young workers. 

Risk to health?

As coronavirus cases in Germany continue to rise, concerns that the strike could heighten the risk of infection were rejected by Verdi representative Jeremy Arndt. 

“The employers are leaving us with no other choice, as they simply don’t want to negotiate with us”, he told the broadcaster RBB (Radio Berlin Brandenburg) on Thursday. “Unfortunately we have to go ahead.”

He pointed to the nationwide strike that took place on September 29th, arguing that “the expected chaos on public transport networks was avoided”. 

Many simply travelled by bike, and additional S-Bahn services prevented trains from becoming overcrowded. Arndt expects that “the same will be the case tomorrow”.

A bad time

The German Association of Municipal Employers (VKA) rejected Verdi’s demands once again on Tuesday, expressing criticism toward the second round of strikes. 

“These warning strikes are not just an unreasonable burden for the population, but also for the local transport companies already struggling to cope with the enormous loss of revenue caused by the coronavirus crisis”, said the association on Tuesday.

READ ALSO: Explained: What sparked the protest culture of modern Germany?

Christine Behle, Vice President of Verdi, sees it differently. “We announce the strikes well in advance to allow citizens to plan around the situation”, she said. 

Public transport strikes have taken place in various German states over the course of the past week, with Hessen affected on Tuesday, Lower Saxony and Bremen on Wednesday, and Badem-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia on Thursday. 

There will also be strikes until noon in nine towns in Bavaria, including Regensburg and Nuremberg, on Friday.

“We are already expecting that employers will change their tune and enter into negotiations with us,” said Arndt. “If not, expect the strikes to continue.”

 

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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