City of Jena warns of financial consequences of ver.di demands in local transport

Against the backdrop of the ongoing wage negotiations in the local public transport wage agreement (TV-N) and the current warning strikes, Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche has written to the municipal employers' association. In the letter, he appeals to the City of Jena to limit the demands of the ver.di trade union in the negotiations to a realistically acceptable level.

Local public transport in Jena effectively came to a standstill for several days as a result of the warning strikes. For many citizens, this had a considerable impact on their everyday lives. Commuters, schoolchildren and the districts that rely on bus services were particularly affected.

"From the city of Jena's point of view, the demands currently being made would be financially unmanageable for local transport in Jena. If they were to be implemented in full, the company calculates that costs would increase by around 17 percent or around 4.2 million euros per year. In addition, a reduction in weekly working hours with full wage compensation would result in additional personnel requirements. Around 20 additional full-time positions would have to be created in the transport service alone. In view of the tight labour market situation in the region, it would be extremely difficult to recruit suitably qualified staff," says Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche.

Mayor and Head of Finance Benjamin Koppe also refers to the city's tight budget situation:

"If the demands currently under discussion were to be implemented, the subsidy requirement for Jena's local transport would increase significantly. These additional funds would ultimately have to be offset by the Stadtwerke Group from the city of Jena's budget. Neither Stadtwerke as the parent company via loss compensation nor the city of Jena via additional subsidies from the municipal budget would be able to bear these additional burdens in the long term."

In addition, such a wage agreement could have a considerable impact on the municipal remuneration structure. According to the city, a significantly different development in local transport would lead to an imbalance compared to the employees of the city administration and its own companies.

Benjamin Koppe refers to the financial situation in the municipalities and outlines other possible consequences of implementing the previous union demands:

"The cities and municipalities in Germany are currently facing a deep financial crisis in their municipal budgets. The German Association of Cities has also been pointing out for months that cities across Germany are facing sharply rising expenditure and growing deficits. If local transport costs continue to rise at this rate, the city will have to consider further adjustments to its transport services. Further cuts in local transport services would primarily affect people who rely on buses and trains every day, such as the numerous commuters, people in our rural districts or the large number of schoolchildren and students. That would be exactly the opposite of what we want to achieve as a city. We want the best possible transport services."

The Lord Mayor warns of a development that could weaken local public transport in the long term:

"Falling services and rising costs would reduce the attractiveness of the service for passengers. In addition, the city would be set back considerably in its efforts to make mobility more and more climate-friendly. Our goal, on the other hand, must be to maintain the current timetable in order to remain attractive as a city and to always keep an eye on the future of mobility."

Alongside the letter to the municipal employers' association, the city of Jena is therefore also expressly appealing to the trade union ver.di to proceed with reason, a sense of proportion and a focus on the common good in further negotiations. From the city's point of view, a wage agreement must be found that remains economically viable and keeps local public transport for cities like Jena future-proof and financially viable in the long term.