Warning strikes in Hesse: public transport threatens on Friday!

Warning strikes in Hesse: public transport threatens on Friday!

Public transport in Kassel could largely come to a standstill on Friday, February 21, 2025 due to a planned warning strike from the Verdi union. This warning strike, which is also carried out in other Hessian cities such as Wiesbaden and Frankfurt

Christine Behle, the deputy chairwoman of Verdi, emphasizes the difficult situation in which local transport employees are. A lack of personnel leads to an increased work compression, while many employees retire and often only remain for a short time. The salaries in local transport in Hesse are directly bound to the wage development in the collective agreement for the public service (TVöD).

background of the collective bargaining

The collective bargaining that took place on February 17, 2025 did not make any progress. The employers had not made an offer, which prompted the unions to demand a salary increase of 8%, but at least 350 euros per month. Higher surcharges for particularly stressful professions, as are common in the healthcare industry, are also on the agenda. In addition, the aim is to introduce three additional days off for the union members. Verdi criticizes the lack of willingness to negotiate the employer side and has already announced further strikes.

A total of over 2.5 million employees in the public service are affected. This includes not only employees in local transport, but also educators, nurses, firefighters and employees in numerous other areas. Since the beginning of the warning strikes, the measures have been united around 35,000 employees from over 30 transport companies across Germany, which has led to significant restrictions in local transport.

sequence of strikes

The planned warning strike in Kassel is expected to lead to the failure of all buses and trams on lines 1 to 29. Only the on-demand offer "Schaddel", which can be booked throughout the city of Kassel from 10 p.m., remains unaffected. How exactly the warning strike will affect local public transport in Hesse remains uncertain, since the information on the Verdi strike strategy is subject to and can change at short notice.

In other Hessian cities there was already warning strikes on Tuesday, February 21st, which in Wiesbaden and Frankfurt leather. Sometimes only a few bus lines drove here, while the S-Bahn and regional trains in Frankfurt operated as planned because they are not operated by the VGF. The strikes usually last from the start of operations to the end of the company and are part of a larger protest that is directed against the employers.

The coming days could become decisive in view of the political situation and the upcoming Bundestag election on February 23. While Minister Faeser calls for reluctance and strives for an agreement, there remains the negotiation tongue, which could result in further, possibly nationwide warning strikes.

Further information on the effects of the warning strikes and their backgrounds can be found in the reports of , Tagesschau and Tagesschau .