Berlin (dpa/lhe) – The Hessian State Railway (HLB) has been on strike since Thursday morning. The members of the railway and transport union (EVG) at the HLB had voted in a ballot for an indefinite strike. According to EVG strike leader Andreas Güth, this began on Thursday at 6 a.m.
Effects can already be expected on Thursday morning on the RB15 regional line between Brandoberndorf and Frankfurt, says Güth. The dispatchers went on strike there. The Alsfeld region is also expected to be affected. Longer-term effects on rail traffic are also expected from the strike participation of the HLB workshops in Königstein and Siegen (North Rhine-Westphalia).
86.6 percent of the participating EVG members at the HLB had spoken out in favor of an indefinite strike, Güth reported. The employer HLB is still unwilling to sit down with the EVG to negotiate a collective agreement. In the summer, the HLB employees had already stopped work in several warning strikes.
The EVG members among the employees also demanded industry-standard income from the HLB. To do this, wages at HLB would have to be increased by at least 6.8 percent. In addition, the employees are demanding a model in which they can choose for themselves whether they get more money or more vacation.
