Collective bargaining at the railway in Fulda: The group and the EVG union in Hesse want to negotiate for three days. Passengers can hope – recently both sides sent signals of rapprochement.
According to its own statements, Deutsche Bahn wants to achieve results in the collective bargaining negotiations with the railway and transport union (EVG) in the coming days. DB HR Director Martin Seiler held out the prospect of a possible new offer before the start of negotiations on Tuesday in Fulda. “It’s about getting into the negotiations, talking about the content,” said Seiler. “And then it will certainly happen that if we move towards each other and possibly even agree that there will also be an improved new offer.”
The negotiations in Fulda are scheduled up to and including Thursday. The EVG wants to achieve a salary increase of 650 euros per month for 180,000 DB employees over a period of twelve months. So far, Deutsche Bahn has offered a tax- and duty-free inflation compensation premium and a tariff increase in two stages totaling ten percent for lower and middle incomes and eight percent for higher earners. With a term of 27 months, the first stage would come next year. The EVG calls for a table increase in 2023.
Seiler emphasized that the railways had already “stretched a lot” with their offer. “Now it’s time to balance which elements are needed to find solutions,” said Seiler. Everything is prepared on the employer side to close the deal this week. “We have three days, three busy days, and we should do everything we can to get results here,” said Seiler.
Source: Stern
