Leipzig (dpa/sn) - People in Leipzig are threatened with significant restrictions in local public transport on Wednesday due to a warning strike. The Verdi union announced on Tuesday that all employees and trainees of the Leipzig public transport company were called on to go on a all-day warning strike. The transport company warned on Twitter that "the scheduled services of buses and trams will largely be discontinued". Regional trains, regional buses and S-Bahn trains are not affected by the work stoppages.
According to Verdi, how many employees come to work will only be known in the morning. It is therefore unclear how many vehicles from the transport company would be on the roads on Wednesday, said Verdi regional department head Paul Schmidt on Tuesday evening. The employees should stop their work on Wednesday night from 3 a.m. and start again on Thursday morning at 5 a.m.
"While the Leipzig transport company is boasting about its new trams, electric buses and the planned expansion of services, the staff is completely left behind," said Schmidt, according to the announcement. When it comes to paying employees in local public transport, Saxony brings up the rear nationwide. In the course of the ongoing collective bargaining, Verdi is demanding at least 500 euros more per month for employees and 200 euros more for trainees.
