Germany-wide public transport strikes cause disruption

Buses and trains have been at a standstill in numerous German cities and regions since the early hours of Tuesday, as transport workers hold strikes to back up their demands for nationwide employment rules.

Berlin, Hamburg, the Hanover region, Magdeburg, Kiel and Erfurt, have been disrupted by the strikes. In Munich, Constance and Freiburg, employees in the public transport sector also plan to stop working.

Transport companies called on their customers to give up unnecessary trips on Tuesday morning and switch to other means of transport.

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, students with long journeys to school have been exempted from lessons on Tuesday if their bus or tram does not run because of the warning strike.

The Verdi trade union called on Friday for the warning strikes amid calls for a nationwide collective agreement for about 87,000 public transport sector employees.

Employers have so far refused to agree to uniform work regulations, which would replace the patchwork system that has emerged over the years in the nation's 16 federal states.