Status: 03/25/2023 07:57 am
After there have recently been repeated regional warning strikes, the EVG and ver.di unions now want to paralyze traffic throughout Germany: they have called for extensive warning strikes for Monday, which will also affect Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Hamburg become.
In addition to rail traffic, airports and the motorway company are also on strike. There are also walkouts at numerous locks on important waterways such as the Kiel Canal and in the Port of Hamburg.
The railway and transport union (EVG) said it was calling on the approximately 230,000 employees of all railway and transport companies currently involved in collective bargaining to go on a nationwide warning strike. The walkouts would begin Monday night at 12:00 a.m. The consequences would last throughout the day. The trade union ver.di is calling on a total of around 120,000 employees to take part in industrial action.
Long-distance rail traffic is completely discontinued
At Deutsche Bahn, all long-distance traffic will be discontinued nationwide. Even in regional traffic, “mostly no trains will run,” said the group. Anyone who has booked a train ticket for Monday or Tuesday of the coming week up to and including Thursday of this week should be able to use it flexibly until April 4th.
The regional and S-Bahn traffic of other railway companies is also affected. These include the companies Transdev, AKN, Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen, Nordwestbahn, erixx, vlexx, eurobahn and Die Länderbahn.
Many flight cancellations at the airports in the north
According to the unions, civil service workers, ground handling workers and aviation security workers are called on to go on warning strikes at airports. According to ver.di, this affects employees at all German commercial airports except Berlin.
There will be no departures from Hamburg Airport on Monday because the security check will be closed. All 147 planned starts will be canceled or will take place without passengers. Affected passengers should contact their airline and not come to the airport. Flight cancellations are also to be expected for the planned 152 arrivals.
AUDIO: Who, where, how and why? Background to the warning strikes (5 min)
The warning strike will also affect Lower Saxony’s largest airport, Hanover-Langenhagen. “Significant impairments are to be expected,” said the airport on Friday on its website. According to ver.di, it can even be expected that there will be no take-offs and landings on Monday. Bremen Airport has canceled all take-offs and landings of passenger planes for Monday. According to NDR information, Münster-Osnabrück Airport (FMO) is not affected by the warning strikes.
Road tunnels could also be closed
Street tunnels are also to be struck. The Autobahn GmbH of the federal government wants to avoid tunnel closures on Monday. For this purpose, emergency service agreements should be concluded. The Elbe tunnel is also supposed to be – after a 57 hour closure due to road works – to open from 5am on Monday.
Further information
Several federal states are lifting truck driving bans on Sundays because of the strike
In some federal states, the Sunday driving ban for trucks is being lifted because of the warning strike. North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg have announced that they will not check any trucks. They are responding to demands from politics and business. They fear that the strike may cause supply bottlenecks due to traffic jams and delays.
Lower Saxony: Ferries should drive
In Lower Saxony – where the Easter holidays begin on Monday, just like in Bremen – the trains of the Nordwestbahn will come to a complete standstill. The company is still working on an emergency concept – a replacement bus service is planned. The Üstra announced that neither buses nor trains will run in Hanover on Monday. There will also be restrictions with the Regiobus bus company. The local trains are not affected by the warning strike.
According to information from the NDR, the ferries in Lower Saxony are not affected by the warning strikes.
Hamburg: S-Bahn trains probably don’t run – subways and buses do
The passengers of the Hamburg S-Bahn have to be prepared for the standstill of all lines on Monday. The S-Bahn is expected to have “massive impairments” to operations.
According to the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund, subways and buses in the Hanseatic city and the Elbe ferries are not affected by the strike. If the Elbe tunnel is still closed, this would have an impact on bus routes 150 and 250.
Port of Hamburg affected again
The Hamburg port administration HPA is expecting significant restrictions on shipping traffic on the Elbe and in the port due to the renewed warning strike by the pilot shifters. A spokeswoman for the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) said on Friday that the walkout was announced for Sunday, 6 p.m., until Tuesday, 6 a.m. The HPA is in talks with ver.di to work out solutions. The rejection means that ships that are required to be piloted are not allowed to sail on the Elbe from a length of 90 meters and a width of at least 13 meters, making the port inaccessible to them.
AUDIO: Comment: Warning strikes are unpleasant but necessary (3 min)
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Railway operator ODEG cancels all connections
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the private rail operator ODEG will cancel all connections on Monday because it uses the Deutsche Bahn rail network. The company announced on Friday that there would be no replacement bus services. According to ver.di, trams, buses and school buses should run according to plan nationwide. The Warnow ferries also run in Rostock, but not the S-Bahn. The Molli Bahn will run between Kuehlungsborn and Bad Doberan.
Unlike in other federal states, only Deutsche Bahn is on strike in the north-east as part of the nationwide traffic warning strike. Other bus and tram companies or ferries of the White Fleets are not affected, ver.di Nord said. The collective agreements applicable there are not the subject of the warning strike.
The effects of the warning strike on the Rostock overseas port were not yet fully foreseeable on Friday, as a port spokesman said.
Schleswig-Holstein: Buses should drive – NOK gates closed
In Schleswig-Holstein, too, the strike on Monday is likely to affect regional train services, but at least the buses should run regularly across the country. Since tunnels on motorways could also be on strike, drivers have to be prepared for problems. This also affects visitors and residents of the island of Sylt. It must be assumed that no Sylt Shuttle will run until the afternoon on Monday, the railway said. According to the current status, the strike on the northernmost section between Niebüll and Westerland should end at 3 p.m., traffic should then be resumed.
Delays and closures are also to be expected in the municipal ports. On the Kiel Canal (NOK), the lock gates in Kiel and Brunsbüttel are to remain closed again.
In Schleswig-Holstein there was already on Friday Massive warning strikes, including daycare centers, hospitals, public utilities, city administrations and the NOK were affected.
VIDEO: NDR Info speaking time: Is the wave of strikes justified? (87 mins)
Shipping in the German Bight possible despite warning strikes
Due to an emergency service agreement, shipping in the German Bight should also be possible on Monday despite the warning strike. This was announced by the Weser-Jade-North Sea Waterways and Shipping Authority (WSA) in Bremerhaven. Accordingly, the office is on strike, but it was agreed with ver.di that the traffic centers responsible for monitoring and controlling shipping traffic and the water protection ship “Mellum” remain manned.
Ver.di demands 10.5 percent more wages, the EVG 12 percent
The trade unions justified their actions with a lack of progress in the respective collective bargaining rounds. For the approximately 2.5 million federal and local employees nationwide, the ver.di union is demanding 10.5 percent more wages, but at least an increase of 500 euros per month. Employers reject this requirement as disproportionate. They gradually offer five percent more for a two-year term and a one-off payment of 2,500 euros. The third round of negotiations is planned for next week in Potsdam.
The EVG is negotiating for around 230,000 employees in train and bus companies and wants twelve percent more wages, but at least 650 euros more per month. The offers from Deutsche Bahn and public employers are comparable and each include a total of five percent more wages and one-off payments of up to 2,500 euros in two steps.
