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Local Transport Restarts After 48-Hour Verdi Walkout With Dispute Still Unresolved

The stoppage pressed demands to ease workloads under a new framework agreement, with fresh bargaining rounds set in early March.

Overview

  • Bus, tram and subway services largely resumed on Sunday, with Berlin restarting around 3 a.m. and Hamburg back to normal operations by morning.
  • The coordinated action covered about 150 municipal operators and roughly 100,000 workers, halting services widely except in Lower Saxony and much of Baden‑Württemberg.
  • Verdi’s push centers on better conditions including shorter weekly hours or a choice model, 11-hour minimum rest times, guaranteed six‑minute turnarounds and higher night and weekend premiums, with some regions also negotiating pay.
  • Employer groups condemned the 48-hour stoppage and called for new strike rules, and the union has left further warning strikes as a possibility.
  • Talks resume this week in several regions, including Berlin’s BVG on March 4–5, with Verdi in Baden‑Württemberg pledging no walkouts before March 9; separately, Deutsche Bahn’s chief said a ten‑year network renovation is underway with a HamburgBerlin update due March 13.