A two-day warning strike on local public transport has begun in numerous federal states. Buses, trams and subways were at a standstill in many places. Passengers must expect significant disruption.
The Verdi union had called for two-day warning strikes until Friday. Those affected include Berlin, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. Rallies were planned in several cities on Thursday. A two-day warning strike continues in Thuringia.
S-Bahn or regional buses that are not operated by municipal employers are not affected by the labor disputes. The background to the strikes is collective bargaining for employees, which is mostly about better working conditions and relief for employees. In other countries, payment is also negotiated.
Failure of almost all local transport in Berlin
Passengers in the capital have to prepare for the cancellation of almost all local transport. The S-Bahn is not affected. Regional and long-distance rail transport is also not on strike and runs according to the usual timetable. The situation is similar in Hamburg. The striking Hochbahn operates the subway and most of the bus routes in the Hanseatic city. In Lower Saxony, Hanover, Braunschweig, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg and Goslar were affected. In North Rhine-Westphalia, almost all large municipal local transport companies such as KVB (Cologne), Rheinbahn (Düsseldorf), DSW21 (Dortmund), the Münster municipal utility and moBiel (Bielefeld) are on strike.
The action is part of an almost nationwide wave of warning strikes by Verdi in local public transport. March 1st is the main strike day nationwide. The exception is Bavaria. There is no longer any threat of strikes in Saarland since a collective agreement was reached on Wednesday.