Berlin’s public transportation workers, employed by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), began a two-day warning strike on Wednesday morning, bringing a significant part of the city’s public transportation to a standstill.
Since 3:00 a.m. in the night, no U- and S-trains, as well as only a few bus lines, have been in operation. As a result, numerous traffic jams have formed on major exit roads during the morning rush hour. S-Bahns and regional trains, however, are running as usual and a reduced bus schedule is being maintained on some lines thanks to the deployment of subcontractors and non-unionized strikebreakers.
The Verdi union has called for a 48-hour stoppage, which is expected to last until Friday at 3:00 a.m. The move is intended to put pressure on the public employers, with whom a further round of negotiations on wages and salaries is scheduled for Friday.
As previously reported, the previous wage negotiations in the public sector have been unsuccessful. Last week, the BVG presented a new offer to the union, which included a 13.6 percent salary increase over a 24-month period. Verdi, however, described the offer as “completely inadequate” and is demanding a monthly bonus of 750 euros per employee, as well as higher shift premiums. The union is seeking a 12-month contract period. The negotiations, which involve around 16,000 BVG employees, have been ongoing since mid-January.
If the negotiations on Friday do not yield a result, Verdi has threatened to call for unlimited strikes. However, a union vote is first required, in which at least 75 percent of participating members must agree to the strike.
The wage negotiations for BVG employees are separate from those in the public sector, as the former do not fall under the collective agreements of the federal states. The S-Bahn in Berlin is operated by Deutsche Bahn, which has its own collective agreements.