The regional association of Bavarian bus companies (LBO) and the Ver.di union have been fighting for a new collective agreement since September 2020. The union had terminated the collective wage agreement in force since April 1, 2017 with effect from August 31, 2020 and demanded a wage increase of around 30% over a period of 18 months for the 17,000 bus drivers in Bavaria.
After several ultimately unsuccessful rounds of negotiations, the arbitration proceedings initiated by the LBO will start tomorrow, Wednesday, under the direction of lawyer Ernst Burger. The impartial chairman was presiding judge at the regional labor court in Munich until his retirement. The industry association hopes that Burger will bring both parties to an agreement.
“We particularly value the performance of our driving staff, especially in these difficult times, and hope that we can now find a socially acceptable solution for both employees and employers within the scope of the arbitration,” emphasizes the chairman of the LBO collective bargaining commission, Nico Schoenecker.
At the beginning of December last year, the employers’ side agreed to a three-stage wage increase on March 1, 2021, January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2023. For a large part of the employees, the result would have meant a wage increase of over 10% plus a corona bonus of 300 euros, according to the LBO – despite the extremely difficult situation in which the predominantly medium-sized Bavarian bus operators have been since the beginning of the corona pandemic in particular in travel and occasional traffic.
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