Almost 36 times around the equator - so long is the distance that buses, subways and trams in Berlin 2018 could not go as planned, because staff was missing: 1,431,536 kilometers. Compared to the previous year, the value has increased eightfold. Overall, the BVG vehicles drove about 133 million kilometers. More than every 90th kilometer fell out.
Most dramatic is the situation with the buses. There, the number of personnel-related failed kilometers has increased twelve times.
Blame is the sick leave, explains BVG spokeswoman Petra Nelken: "For us, this was always between seven and eight percent, but has now increased to over ten percent." According to the BVG spokeswoman, this is also due to the success of the company. Passenger numbers rose from 925 million in 2009 to around 1.1 billion in 2018 - with ever more traffic on the roads. "This is a challenge for our drivers and creates more stress in the workplace," says Nelken: More stress also means more outages.
Older employees are more likely to fail
And yet another BVG-typical problem plays a role, explains the spokeswoman: Many employees are over 50 years old and lead for over 30 years for the BVG. "As a result, factors such as failures due to back problems play a correspondingly larger role for us." A jump from around 180,000 failed kilometers to 1.4 million by a two percent higher sick leave - that sounds realistic for the spokesman for the Ver.di district of Berlin-Brandenburg, Andreas Splanemann. After all, BVG drives much more kilometers than before, with fewer and fewer staff, says Splanemann.
"The BVG is operated at the border," he explains. There are hardly any reserves for both personnel and vehicles. Especially the bus drivers would suffer from bad conditions, he says. So many worked in divided shifts, so in the morning and in the afternoon with a long lunch break. "In the end, they have working hours of eleven, twelve hours and no time for family or leisure," says Splanemann.
That bus drivers fall out very often is also due to their exposed position, says Splanemann. They would be attacked or spit more often than their colleagues. In addition, they would get comparatively little money. "Many bus drivers earn 2,100 euros gross, so some have difficulty paying the rent." Bus driving is therefore just in Berlin a difficult and badly paid job. That's another reason why many would reorient themselves and look for a new job - or strike for better working conditions.
For example, the BVG employees recently used a warning strike to paralyze commuter traffic in Berlin almost completely. They demand 36.5 hours instead of 39 hours a week, with equal pay. However, in order to meet this requirement, the BVG would need 500 more drivers - in addition to the 1100, which BVG intends to hire anyway this year.