As of: March 12, 2024, 3:12 p.m
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Trade unionists take down a banner with the inscription “Get ahead #TVN2024” and the demand for “100% special payment” from a fence.
© Bernd Thissen/dpa
The third round of collective bargaining in local public transport in North Rhine-Westphalia has collapsed.
Verdi announces a strike vote.
Meanwhile, a strike by the GDL is causing restrictions at Deutsche Bahn.
Dortmund - In the most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, there is a threat of strikes both at Deutsche Bahn and in local public transport with buses and trains.
Verdi NRW has declared collective bargaining over the working conditions of around 30,000 employees in the municipal transport companies to have failed.
The union wants to initiate the strike vote in North Rhine-Westphalia before Easter, as it announced on Tuesday.
A decision will be made about indefinite strikes.
The employers' association KAV NRW expressed surprise at the decision.
Last Monday, in the third round of negotiations in Dortmund, the employers “presented a far-reaching offer paper to resolve the collective bargaining dispute,” the association said.
However, the unions insisted on “unfulfillable demands”.
No bridge between unions and employers
Verdi local transport expert Peter Büddicker, however, accused the employers of a lack of accommodation.
The offer does not provide any scope for further meetings.
“In the negotiations, we tried to build a bridge between flat-rate relief days and individual relief for employers when it comes to the issue of workload days.” However, the talks ended on Tuesday night.
The KAV, however, came up with a different calculation: In addition to the 30 days of vacation leave already regulated by the collective agreement, six more were required.
“The required additional days off would require an additional number of around 1,700 employees in the transport service and, together with the other demands, would lead to additional costs for the local public transport companies in North Rhine-Westphalia of around 165 million euros,” it said in their statement.
That was rejected as unrealistic.
The employers offered two additional days off and financial improvements.
From their point of view, they have moved towards each other, said KAV managing director Bernhard Langenbrinck.
In the past few weeks, the union has largely paralyzed local public transport in North Rhine-Westphalia with several warning strike calls for one or two days each.
Almost all major local transport companies went on strike.
An exception is the Aachen transport company Aseag, which has an in-house collective agreement.
Some other NRW transport companies were also not on strike.
Verdi is calling for additional days off to relieve staff and make the jobs more attractive.
Other demands include overtime from the first minute, a full annual special payment and shift allowances for the driving service.
In recent weeks, KAV NRW has pointed to tight financial flexibility and a significant salary increase on March 1st.
He had stated that his goal for the third round of collective bargaining was to reach an agreement as part of an overall package.
The train drivers' strike also hits NRW
Meanwhile, a nationwide strike by the train drivers' union GDL on Tuesday also had an impact in North Rhine-Westphalia.
According to a spokesman for DB NRW, four lines were running regularly.
There were restrictions on 17 others.
21 lines were completely eliminated.
Trains on lines operated by rail competitors run normally.
These include the National Express RRX trains that run between the Rhineland and Westphalia as well as the Eurobahn lines that run in Münsterland and East Westphalia.
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The GDL had called for the sixth industrial action in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute at the railway.
She demands higher salaries and fewer working hours.
The sticking point is the requirement that shift workers should work 35 instead of 38 hours a week for the same money.
dpa