Image: Daniel Bockwoldt (dpa)
“The employees’ dissatisfaction is great, their concerns are legitimate,” explained union leader Claus Weselsky. “Anyone who believes that they can cynically play for time at the expense of their employees is mistaken. Now is the time to make improvements; there is no room for delay!” The railway has not yet been prepared to respond to core demands such as a reduction in working hours. Deutsche Bahn expects the strike to have a massive impact on operations. The state-owned company explained that information will be provided as quickly and comprehensively as possible.
Human resources director Martin Seiler was correspondingly annoyed: “This is an unreasonable expectation for rail passengers. This strike is completely unnecessary,” he said. “We have negotiations on the calendar on Thursday and Friday that we agreed upon together. The train drivers’ union is ignoring agreements and acting irresponsibly.” An 11 percent offer from DB from the opening round with an additional inflation compensation bonus of up to 2,850 euros is already on the table.
GDL charges 555 euros more per month
According to Deutsche Bahn, the GDL is negotiating for almost 10,000 employees of the state-owned company, which has over 200,000 in Germany alone. However, a train driver’s strike can have massive effects on both passenger and freight transport throughout Germany. However, the GDL only has comparatively few employees in the network area. The larger railway and transport union (EVG) can paralyze signal boxes there with a strike, as a result of which entire sections of the route have to be closed. The railway has also already announced that it will use particularly long trains to try to get as many people as possible to their destination, even if the timetable is thinned out.
The GDL charges, among other things, 555 euros more per month. In addition, the working hours for shift workers should be reduced to 35 of 38 hours per week without a reduction in wages. In addition, the tax-free inflation bonus of 3,000 euros is required once. The term should not exceed twelve months. The railway rejects the demands as too high. In total, they would mean a volume of 50 percent more.
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