Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Commuters in Frankfurt and seven other cities in the state of Hesse were facing delays today as local rail, bus and streetcar workers went on a one-day warning strike.

The strikes forced some of the 660,000 residents in Frankfurt, home to Germany’s biggest banks including Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG, to resort to taxis and regional trains to get to work. The state capital of Wiesbaden and the cities of Kassel, Marburg, Giessen, Offenbach, Hanau and Darmstadt were also affected.

About 4,000 employees represented by the Ver.di labor union are demanding an agreed-upon raise of 2.8 percent and a 225 euro ($289) one-time payment for 2009, union representative Gerold Schaub said in a telephone interview today.

“We should’ve received the payment on Jan. 1 so now we’re raising the pressure,” said Schaub. “We can’t rule out further strikes but hope that we can restart negotiations soon.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kirchfeld in Frankfurt at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 25, 2009 02:59 EST