2024-02-02 15:36:00
Local public transport – No bus and tram traffic in Brandenburg – BVG is running as scheduled again
dpa/Patrick Pleul
Audio: rbb 88.8 | 02/02/2024 | Tatiana Brasching | Image: dpa/Patrick Pleul
Most buses, trams and subways have been at a standstill in the region since the morning: While the public transport warning strike ended in Berlin in the morning, the strike in Brandenburg will continue throughout Friday.
- Berlin transport companies went on strike from 3 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Friday
BVG is running largely according to plan again in the afternoon - 14 transport companies in Brandenburg are on strike all day
- There are also strikes in other federal states, except Bavaria
In Berlin, buses, trams and subways are largely running as planned again, and the warning strike continues in Brandenburg.
“Our buses and trains are now running as usual again according to plan,” said a spokesman for the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) early on Friday afternoon. It “took a while until everything was regular again.”
Warning strikes except in Bavaria
A warning strike on public transport began in Berlin and Brandenburg on Friday morning. Therefore, between 3 a.m. and 10 a.m., most buses and all trams and subways of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) did not run. Some bus lines, BVG ferries, S-Bahn and regional transport were not affected.
The background is a call from the Verdi union to employees in local public transport. They should strike all day nationwide – excluding Bavaria. Collective bargaining is currently underway for the approximately 90,000 municipal public transport employees in over 130 municipal companies.
There was a strike in Berlin until 10 a.m. | Image: rbb/Winkler All-day strike in Brandenburg
In Brandenburg, however, the warning strike in local public transport is scheduled to last the whole of Friday and until 4 a.m. Saturday. Despite the strike, things remained relatively quiet on Brandenburg’s streets. There was no more activity on the streets than usual and he was observing a “normal traffic situation,” said a police spokesman in the afternoon.
A total of 14 transport companies in Brandenburg are on strike [vbb.de]. The transport companies in the districts of Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Prignitz, Uckermark and Oberspreewald-Lausitz are not on strike.
The same applies here: train traffic is not affected. S-Bahn as well as regional and long-distance trains run as scheduled. According to the Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Association (VBB), all construction-related replacement services for S-Bahn or regional trains are also running as planned.
Driving subcontractors
In the state capital Potsdam, some bus lines ran as scheduled, individual trips were canceled on other lines, and other connections were canceled completely. “Due to the use of subcontractors and the operation by the BVG,” trips would continue to be offered, according to a statement from the municipal utilities in Potsdam.
In the country’s second largest city, Cottbus, attempts were also made to carry out some trips. For example, school transport should be secured through bus trips, emphasized a spokeswoman for Cottbusverkehr GmbH. After the strike around 3 a.m. on Saturday, the company is not expecting any “aftermath.” She assumes that traffic can then continue again without major start-up difficulties.
At regiobus Potsdam Mittelmark GmbH, too, “90 percent of regular trips are canceled,” said managing director Martin Grießner to rbb. Only the subcontractors would drive.
Transport companies have no understanding for strikes
School buses were still running in Frankfurt (Oder) on Friday morning, after which the drivers stopped working, confirmed Christian Kuke, managing director of the Frankfurt city transport company. Trams are also canceled for the entire day. Kuke showed little understanding for the strike: “We as employers are extremely upset because we couldn’t really expect such an industrial action at this point, as the talks so far have been very goal-oriented. We will of course continue to talk to the service union, because “We have an interest in reaching a reasonable agreement as quickly as possible; in the end everyone benefits from that,” Kuke told rbb.
The head of the Barnim bus company, Frank Wruck, is also surprised by the strikes. School bus routes were not operated on Friday in order to “not leave children behind because the connecting bus doesn’t come,” said Wruck. Instead, the bus company is trying to implement the holiday timetable with the staff who are not on strike on Friday: “In order to maintain a basic service, especially in urban transport in Bernau and Eberswalde.”
These companies are or have been on strike:
- Berlin public transport company (BVG)
- Potsdam Transport Authority (ViP)
- Dahme-Spreewald regional transport company
- Verkehrsgesellschaft Teltow-Fläming mbH (VTF)
- Bus transport Oder-Spree GmbH
- Barnimer Busgesellschaft mbH
- Cottbusverkehr GmbH
- Havelbus Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH
- Regiobus Potsdam Mittelmark GmbH
- Stadtverkehrsgesellschaft mbH Frankfurt (Oder)
- DB Regio Bus Ost GmbH
- Brandenburg an der Havel transport company
- Oberhavel Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH
- Mobus Märkisch-Oderland Bus GmbH
- Traffic Management Elbe-Elster GmbH and Elster Nahverkehrsgesellschaft mbH
Verdi is calling for longer rest periods and more vacation days in Berlin
The negotiations in Berlin are about a new collective agreement. Among other things, Verdi wants to ensure that all employees receive 33 days of vacation without staggering. The union is also demanding 500 euros in holiday pay per year, an extended turning time of ten minutes on all routes, an increase in rest periods between two transport services to twelve hours, the granting of one day of holiday for every 100 hours of night work up to a maximum of six days and the reduction of unpaid breaks in transport services .
“The burden on employees and the shortage of personnel in public transport have increased more and more, the work pressure is getting greater and greater,” said Verdi. “So solutions must be found quickly to bring about relief.”
Verdi negotiator for Berlin and Brandenburg Jeremy Arndt told rbb on Friday that relief would be the common goal of the negotiations. “In public transport companies nationwide, the job is very strenuous.” The collective bargaining round is about “ensuring that working conditions get better, because we are also increasingly seeing that many colleagues are looking for other professions because they can no longer bear this strain,” said Arndt.
Next round of negotiations: February 15th
When asked by rbb last Wednesday, the company did not want to say whether and how the BVG would respond to Verdi’s demands. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for February 15th.
These discussions are expressly not about higher wages or working hours per se for BVG employees.
In Brandenburg, Verdi is demanding more money
In Brandenburg it is also about pay, i.e. higher wages and salaries. In Brandenburg, Verdi wants to get 20 percent, or at least 650 euros, more for local transport workers. The term of the collective agreement should be twelve months.
Since January 1, 2024, there is no longer any obligation to make peace in the collective bargaining dispute. At the beginning of December, Verdi initiated the collective bargaining round and presented demands in all 16 federal states.
A woman waits for her tram in Berlin after 10 a.m. The BVG had announced that passengers would still have to expect impacts after the strike ended.
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, February 2nd, 2024, 8:00 a.m
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