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Demonstrating Ver.di members in Munich
Photo: Sachelle Babbar / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO
In the collective bargaining dispute in the public sector, warning strikes have largely paralyzed local public transport in several federal states.
In order to put pressure on municipal employers, around 60,000 employees responded to the call for a strike by the Ver.di trade union and laid down their jobs.
The focus was on local public transport.
In the larger cities
of Baden-Württemberg,
almost all trains and buses remained in the depots.
The Verdi union assumed at least 5,000 employees in the southwest.
In the state capital of Stuttgart, on the other hand, S-Bahn trains ran despite the failures.
They are served by Deutsche Bahn.
Even in
Saxony's
largest cities, traffic largely came to a standstill.
Only a few buses operated by subcontractors are on the road, it said.
In
North Rhine-Westphalia,
the one-day warning strike started when the transport companies started operating at around 2.30 a.m., according to a Ver.di spokesman.
The focus is therefore on the Ruhr area and the Rhineland.
Residents of the larger cities in particular had to be prepared for considerable restrictions, for example in Cologne, Dortmund and Düsseldorf.
S-Bahn and regional trains were not affected by the warning strikes.
Buses and trains also stood still
in several cities in
Bavaria .
The Munich transport company has reported massive restrictions on buses for the second day in a row.
The subway and tram were out of service.
The Augsburg Transport and Tariff Association reported that local transport in the city had come to an almost complete standstill.
Other focal points of the warning strikes were
Hesse, Lower Saxony, Bremen
and
Rhineland-Palatinate
.
The action took place together with the activists from Fridays for Future, who demonstrated in several cities on Friday for more climate protection.
The general manager of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA), Steffen Kampeter, criticized the joint action as a "dangerous crossing of borders".
In his view, strikes are permissible in order to reach collective agreements and must not interfere with general political goals.
Ver.di boss Frank Werneke rejected the criticism.
"The ecological change in society can only be thought of together with social change," he said.
When it comes to mobility and local public transport, both issues are closely linked.
"Challenging and scandalizing the legality of our strikes is far-fetched and pure propaganda." Ver.di Vice Christine Behle said the activists' goals were compatible with those of the unions.
The negotiations for the approximately 2.5 million federal and local employees had been tough since they started in January.
Ver.di and the civil servants' association dbb are demanding 10.5 percent more income, but at least 500 euros more per month.
There had been no rapprochement in the second round of negotiations last week.
Another round of negotiations is planned for the end of March.
Next Wednesday, Verdi wants to extend the warning strikes nationwide to daycare centers and social facilities.
As the union announced on Friday, it is a reaction "to the completely inadequate offer from the employers from the second round of negotiations for public sector employees".
There could be restrictions on operations and closures.
ssu/dpa
