Fight for money and toilets

Negotiations: Bus drivers are “fed up with the bubble”

Clenched fist - works councillors Markus Ernst from ÖBB Postbus and Thomas Stiller from Dr. Richard with chief trade unionist Horst Pammer (from left).

(Bild: René Denk)

Trade unionists are not only fighting for more pay, but also for better working conditions. For example, hour-long breaks are seen as free time and there is often no quiet place to go. With proper conditions, enough staff would also be found - because the shortage occupation list would only encourage wage dumping.

The representatives of the 12,000 private bus drivers have long since had enough of the tough collective bargaining negotiations. They have been demanding an improvement in working conditions for years.

The bubble is also full
For example, the vida trade union wants bus drivers to be given the opportunity to use a toilet during their longer breaks. "In the middle of the field, it's just as difficult as standing in front of a locked toilet door at the train station," emphasizes Horst Pammer, regional chairman of the vida Lower Austria trade union.

Many unpaid hours
Of course, there would also be no social room for the break, which sometimes lasts several hours. A fifteen-hour day with only eleven hours of paid working time is not uncommon. The home "I really enjoy taking the bus. But I'm also a passionate dad and only see my ten-year-old at bedtime," complains Markus Ernst, works council member at ÖBB Postbus.

The last opportunity to make savings is personnel
With such miserable working conditions, the trade unionists are not surprised not to find enough staff. The shortage occupation list was even opened in 2024, meaning that non-EU citizens are now also allowed to do the job. "Nobody believes that an Indian has a bigger bladder or can drive longer - this only serves the purpose of wage dumping," rages Pammer.

Systemic problem with public tendering
However, he also criticizes the public tendering system and the politics behind it: "Because of the tough competition, entrepreneurs are forced to make savings. They can almost only save on personnel, everything else is the same. And when it comes to personnel, they get extremely creative with their savings!"

The trade unionists are disturbed by the impractical approach of the tenderers - the public sector, such as the state of Lower Austria - and the fact that no quality criteria or employee standards are taken into account. And it is certainly not beneficial that tenderers are not involved in the collective agreement negotiations. This would give them a better impression of the industry. An industry in which fewer and fewer people want to work, because in Vienna alone there will be a shortage of 5,000 bus drivers in the next five years, the trade unionists cite forecasts.

Strike could start on February 20
The next negotiation date between employer and employee representatives is scheduled for February 17. "However, if another deceptive package is put on the negotiating table, employees could go on strike as early as February 20," says vida regional head Pammer.