The notice of the warning strike in the public service can be seen on a billboard in Düsseldorf
Photo: Martin Gerten / dpa
The service union Ver.di announces mad strikes in the local public transport (ÖPNV) for the coming week.
Three federal states are affected: Hesse (Tuesday) and Bremen and Lower Saxony (Wednesday).
With this early announcement, the union wants to enable citizens to prepare for the strikes.
With the strikes, Ver.di intends to negotiate a nationwide framework collective agreement for the approximately 87,000 employees in local public transport.
"The local public transport urgently needs nationwide regulations to relieve the workforce," said Ver.di deputy chairwoman Christine Behle.
The union had already called for warning strikes across the country last Tuesday;
buses and trains were canceled in numerous cities.
The Association of Local Employers' Associations (VKA) was still unwilling to negotiate despite the strike, criticized Ver.di.
95 percent of the local public transport works councils complain about a lack of staff
Behle warned that in view of the shortage of skilled workers, the turnaround in traffic and the future of local public transport are at stake.
Compared to the year 2000, there was a shortage of 15,000 employees today - the number of passengers has increased by a quarter in the same period.
In a survey of works councils in 110 public transport companies, 95 percent complained about a lack of staff, especially in the workshops and in the transport service.
In 60 percent of the companies, journeys were regularly canceled as a result.
Icon: The mirror
bah / Reuters / AFP / dpa
