After the marathon of negotiations last week, the EVG initially consulted internally. Now the search for a collective agreement for a good 180,000 employees at Deutsche Bahn continues – in a curious place.
The EVG trade union prepared further negotiations with Deutsche Bahn on the collective bargaining conflict on Wednesday. “The central collective bargaining committee of the EVG is currently evaluating the current status of the collective bargaining with DB AG,” the union said in the morning. The approximately 40 honorary representatives would then decide on the further progress of the negotiations. The meeting with the representatives of Deutsche Bahn was planned for the afternoon at the IG Metall site in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
The wage conflict has been going on since the end of February. The EVG entered the talks with the aim of increasing the fixed amount by at least 650 euros per month or twelve percent for the upper wage brackets. According to their ideas, the term should be one year.
At the end of May, Deutsche Bahn promised twelve percent more in several stages for the lower wage groups over a period of two years. The middle groups should get a total of ten percent more and the upper groups eight percent. The first stage of the increase should therefore be pending this year. In addition, there would be an inflation compensation premium in several payments totaling 2850 euros, which is tax and duty-free.
Since Tuesday, the EVG has been reporting on wage agreements with other railway companies, which focus on a wage increase of 420 euros, a term of mostly 21 months and 1000 to 1400 euros inflation compensation premium.
EVG boss: The sticking point is the runtime
According to the railway and transport union (EVG), the term is still the decisive sticking point in collective bargaining. “The most difficult point is still the term, i.e. the time frame in which salary increases should take place,” EVG boss Martin Burkert told the news portal “t-online”. The bodies of the union are in the “final stages of evaluating the results of the negotiations so far”. “This Thursday, the EVG federal board, as the supreme body, will decide on how to proceed, including any strikes,” said Burkert.
DB and EVG had discussed a solution to the collective bargaining conflict for five days in a row last week and then postponed further negotiations to the current week on Friday.
Burkert told “t-online” that the warning strikes in recent months had allowed the union to grow. “We have already gained 6,500 new members, which is 2,500 more than last year,” Burkert told the news portal.
Source: Stern
