Halle (dpa/sa) - In several municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt, bus and tram traffic should be closed on Friday. The Verdi union has called for warning strikes in local public transport in Magdeburg, Halle, Dessau and in the Burgenland district. According to the union, the actions are mainly planned between the start of operations and around 2 p.m. It is not yet clear how many of the trips will be cancelled. The Naumburg tram, for example, ruled out participating in the strike. S-Bahn and regional trains are not affected anyway.
The background are negotiations on the collective wage agreement. Despite high inflation, employers have so far rejected effective wage increases, said a spokesman for the union. The hourly wage should be increased by about 1.50 euros. In addition, trainees are to be paid 150 euros more per month.
"Employees have to watch their incomes being eaten up by inflation at record speed. Some can hardly afford the often long commute to work," said Verdi negotiator Paul Schmidt. At the same time, the public transport companies are no longer able to find sufficiently qualified staff to fill all the vacancies with the existing salaries.
