There has long been a dispute between the staff delegation and management at TICE, the intercommunal transport syndicate. The staff delegation claims that working conditions have become significantly worse in recent years. A conciliation process began on Tuesday, but yielded few results.
Representatives of the TICE management board and a delegation from the municipal employees' union, the FGFC (General Federation of Municipal Workers), met for approximately half an hour. The FGFC said the meeting was cut short due to what it considers to be a procedural error in its submission. However, TICE disputes this, claiming that the request was incomplete rather than containing a mere technical error.
Given that the dispute at TICE had already been ongoing for nearly two years, the union had hoped that both sides would discuss the issues in question. However, TICE president and Kayl's first alderman, Marco Lux, rejected this approach. He argued that while the union's concerns may be legitimate, the request submitted by its lawyer did not comply with the legal requirements and therefore could not be accepted. Lux stated that the dossier would need to be resubmitted in the proper legal format before discussions could proceed.
Staffing shortages remain one of the FGFC's main concerns. According to Théo Schickes, head of the TICE employee representatives, the union has repeatedly asked management for detailed information on staffing levels and workforce requirements, but has yet to receive a clear response. He added that employee representatives were surprised by the launch of a recruitment campaign, particularly as they had not been informed in advance.
Beyond staffing levels, Schickes pointed to growing employee dissatisfaction. According to him, requests for career changes or transfers are now submitted almost every month. Unlike in the past, fewer employees see themselves spending their entire careers at TICE, a trend he attributes to what he describes as an excessively strict and distrustful management style.
As an example, Schickes pointed to seven employees who recently appeared before a disciplinary council after being accused of serious misconduct. All seven were ultimately cleared. Schickes argued that management too often resorts to formal disciplinary procedures for relatively minor issues rather than resolving them through dialogue. The union wants to see a return to meaningful social dialogue, where problems are addressed internally through discussion instead of immediately escalating into major disciplinary cases. He added that employees are not happy to see such conflicts repeatedly in the news.
In response, Lux said the TICE board takes allegations of harassment against members of management seriously and has addressed such complaints internally where necessary. At the same time, he stressed that a stricter management style should not automatically be interpreted as misconduct or illegality.
Lux noted that several senior figures had been replaced by the current board and that these individuals were simply carrying out their duties in accordance with the law and applicable staff regulations. He also emphasised that the board and committee fully support their employees, including management team members.
Should the conciliation process fail to produce a solution, the parties may pursue mediation. Should mediation also fail, the FGFC has not ruled out the possibility of a strike, although the union says it would prefer to avoid such action due to the negative consequences for employees and passengers alike.
Even so, one thing appears certain: a single additional meeting is unlikely to be enough to resolve the dispute at TICE, which employs more than 500 people, according to Lux.
