As of: March 1, 2024, 5:33 p.m
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Pigeons have taken over the tram tracks on Alexanderplatz.
© Joerg Carstensen/dpa
Warning strikes are paralyzing large parts of public transport in Brandenburg, while buses and trains are running again in Berlin.
Support is available from Fridays for Future.
Berlin - In Berlin, local transport gradually started running again on Friday afternoon, but in Brandenburg the Verdi union's warning strike continues.
Passengers in twelve cities and municipalities in the state will have to prepare for extensive restrictions on bus and tram traffic until Saturday night.
The union announced that local public transport will only be running as usual everywhere again on Saturday morning.
In Berlin, however, the strike ended on Friday at 2 p.m.
However, it still took some time until everything was back to normal again.
The vehicles would have to be gradually driven out of the depots, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) said.
The union had been on strike on public transport in the capital since Thursday morning.
As a result, the streets had become significantly more crowded.
Many people had to switch to cars or bicycles.
In Brandenburg, the industrial action in most of the affected regions only began on Friday.
There was only a strike in Ostprignitz on Thursday.
Traffic was running again here too.
Verdi received support in both federal states from the climate movement Fridays for Future, which had called for climate protests in numerous cities nationwide on Friday.
According to the movement, thousands of people gathered at a joint rally in Berlin's Invalidenpark alone.
“It is a political question whether the people who take us from A to B every day have good working conditions,” said spokeswoman Liv Manthey in the afternoon.
“And it is a political question whether mobility is made possible for everyone - or not.”
In the Brandenburg state capital Potsdam, dozens of people demonstrated for better working conditions and higher wages in the transport companies.
“Today is the right answer for what the employers are saying,” said a spokesman for the Verdi union at the Potsdam state parliament.
It was already five past twelve.
The break times are not enough, or there are a lack of toilets at the final stops.
In addition, there are long working hours of up to 13 hours, said some of the employees at the event.
As in other federal states, Verdi is also negotiating new collective agreements for public transport employees in Berlin and Brandenburg.
In Berlin it is primarily about better working conditions.
The union is demanding, among other things, an extension of turnaround times on all lines from four to ten minutes, holiday pay and more vacation days.
It was the second warning strike in Berlin in the ongoing wage dispute.
The company canceled a negotiation date planned for Friday with reference to the labor dispute.
It initially remained unclear when the collective bargaining parties would like to meet again for discussions.
In Brandenburg, both sides are also negotiating higher wages.
Verdi is demanding 20 percent - but at least 650 euros - more for local transport workers.
The term of the collective agreement should be twelve months.
According to Verdi, the collective bargaining dispute in the state affects 15 municipal transport companies with a total of around 3,500 employees.
dpa