As of: March 20, 2026 6:19 a.m
The warning strike at the Hamburger Hochbahn has ended since Friday morning. The ver.di union had called for this because of the collective bargaining dispute. There will be another 24-hour strike on Saturday.
The drivers had been on strike since 3 a.m. on Thursday – the warning strike ended after 24 hours at 3 a.m. on Friday. According to Hochbahn, there were massive restrictions. The warning strike brought the subway to a complete standstill for the duration of the warning strike. Night trips were also affected. According to Hochbahn, lines 16 and 114 ran irregularly. Lines 180, 161 and 561, however, ran according to the timetable. The arena shuttle traffic and school buses were also on the move as usual.
Video:
Warning strike: No subway and bus service on the elevated railway (3 minutes)
VHH buses, S-Bahn and HADAG port ferries not affected
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The buses of the Hamburg-Holstein transport company (VHH) were not affected by the strike. There were also S-Bahn trains, AKN trains and the HADAG port ferries, which are not operated by the Hochbahn.
Strike announcement from ver.di for March 21st
As ver.di announced on Thursday, Hochbahn and VHH employees have been called on to go on another warning strike on March 21st. After fruitless rounds of negotiations, the drivers are to go on strike again for 24 hours – from Saturday at 3 a.m. to Sunday at 3 a.m.
Dispute over the term of the collective agreement
At the heart of the collective bargaining dispute is, in addition to the level of wage adjustments and a reduction in weekly working hours, also the term of the new collective agreement. The Hochbahn had submitted an offer with a term of 30 months with staggered wage increases, the ver.di union only wants to conclude the new collective agreement over a period of twelve months due to the “volatile world situation”. “You don’t have to be an economic expert to know that wars like those in Ukraine or now in Iran drive up prices here,” said Thorsten Hukriede, bus driver and member of the ver.di tariff commission. “Everything is becoming more expensive, everything is becoming more unpredictable, but we should commit to a collective agreement for two and a half years. That’s completely unacceptable.”
Strikes in other federal states too
In addition to the warning strikes in Hamburg, there are also said to have been work stoppages at transport companies in Bavaria, Saarland, Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia. There were also considerations for Bremen to paralyze local transport again through a warning strike. However, Ver.di decided not to do so for the time being. There was no strike on local public transport in Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
