Local transport collective agreement: Higher wages for Hildesheim bus drivers!

Local transport collective agreement: Higher wages for Hildesheim bus drivers!

From now on, the employees of Delbus GmbH and Hildesheim City Transport can look forward to new, improved working conditions and higher wages. The local transport collective agreement (TV-N) comes into force, which is a real benefit for all employees in these areas. As the ver.di union announced in a recent announcement, more than 200 employees in Delmenhorst and Hildesheim can benefit from these positive changes. What does that mean specifically?

The entry fee for bus drivers at Delbus is now around 600 euros higher per month for the first two years. For experienced drivers, the salary increases by up to 1,000 euros. In addition, Hildesheim city transport is returning to TV-N after 8.5 years with a reduced collective agreement. Negotiator Marian Drews from ver.di emphasizes how important cooperation between the union, employees and companies is. The aim is to make local public transport (ÖPNV) more attractive.

Good news for workers

The advantages of TV-N soon become noticeable: employees in local transport receive full pay when they move up the level, benefit from special annual payments and a holiday entitlement according to the collective agreement. These improvements also apply to employees in public transport such as bus drivers, control conductors or vehicle repairmen, because they are organized within the framework of the TV-N sectoral collective agreements. Over 100 municipal companies in various cities and districts are affected by the collective bargaining round, which starts on December 5, 2023 and has led to the termination of regional collective agreements in 14 federal states, which shows how dynamic the situation in public transport is.

For many employees, the increase in wages is a long overdue signal in an area that is considered uncompetitive. The dramatic shortage of workers leads to bus and train cancellations every day. The union is certain here: working conditions must be improved, and this includes not only an increase in wages, but also measures such as shortening weekly working hours and additional relief days for shift and night work.

The way into the future

The collective agreements for many public transport employees in the states of Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony are now linked to those of the TVöD. This means that tariff increases in TVöD also influence the table fees in TV-N. In this way, the influence of working conditions in public transport becomes visible, and the demands on employers become increasingly clear: more free time, higher wages and a better work-life balance.

With regard to the upcoming negotiations, the ver.di union appeals to the municipal transport companies to take these positive developments seriously and to take the concerns of their employees into account. This is the only way public transport in the region will remain competitive in the long term. According to ver.di's conclusion, the new regulations are a decisive step towards making the bus driver profession more attractive and securing the necessary recruitment of skilled workers.

Overall, it shows that good cooperation between all actors - unions, companies and also municipalities - forms the basis for strong and efficient public transport. It remains exciting to see how these developments will continue to unfold in the coming months.

For more information, see also Tixio, Kommunalforum, and ver.di.