The GDL’s warning strike is paralyzing regional rail transport in particular. It remains to be seen whether GDL boss Weselsky is getting closer to his goal of reducing working hours. He has already identified someone to blame for the industrial dispute.
After the warning strike by the locomotive drivers’ union GDL with thousands of train cancellations on Thursday, Deutsche Bahn is counting on a good start to rail traffic on Friday. “Our whole priority is to get traffic going again tomorrow, on this important Friday,” said railway spokesman Achim Stauß on Thursday at Berlin Central Station.
The warning strike has led to thousands of train cancellations since Wednesday evening. In long-distance transport, DB operates an emergency timetable that only contains around 20 percent of the actually planned connections.
The effects of the warning strike varied in regional transport; in some regions there were virtually no trains running on Thursday morning. At around 10.45 a.m., the railway announced that, with very few regional exceptions, “at least a limited train service everywhere” had been ensured. “In some cases there is an emergency bus service,” it said.
With the early industrial action in the still young collective bargaining dispute, the GDL says it wants to ensure that DB Human Resources Director Martin Seiler also negotiates the issue of reducing working hours. This is a core demand of the union: The GDL wants to negotiate a 35-hour week with full pay for shift workers. The weekly working time is currently 38 hours.
Weselsky: Don’t let escalation be blamed on me
Seiler rejects negotiations on this issue because he believes the demand cannot be implemented given the shortage of skilled workers. According to the manager, the railway then needed significantly more employees, who were hard to find.
Weselsky sharply criticized this attitude because no compromise could be achieved. “I won’t let myself be accused of escalating if the other side says: ‘I’m not negotiating with you about weekly working hours and I’m not negotiating with you about collective agreements for dispatchers,'” Weselsky told radio station WDR5.
DB spokesman: Find solutions through negotiations
It is unclear when negotiations will continue. The railway has canceled the second round of negotiations that was actually planned for this Thursday and Friday. “Either you strike or you negotiate. You can’t do both at the same time,” said Seiler on Wednesday, explaining the reasons. The next agreed dates are November 23rd and 24th. It initially remained unclear whether negotiations would actually take place on these days.
Railway spokesman Stauß appealed to the GDL to negotiate without strikes: “Today’s strike is irresponsible, it is an unreasonable expectation for our passengers. We have to find solutions at the negotiating table, not through strikes,” said Stauß.
In addition to a reduction in working hours, the GDL is demanding 555 euros more per month for employees if the collective agreement runs for 12 months, as well as a tax- and duty-free inflation compensation bonus. During the first round of negotiations last week, the railway proposed an eleven percent wage increase for a period of 32 months. The group is also prepared to pay the inflation compensation premium.
The emergency timetable is still valid after the warning strike ends
According to the company, the collective agreements negotiated with the GDL are applied to 10,000 employees at Deutsche Bahn. The train drivers’ union is the smaller of two unions at DB. The railway and transport union EVG has already negotiated new collective agreements for around 180,000 employees in the spring and summer. Among other things, EVG achieved a salary increase of 410 euros in two stages over a period of 25 months. The payment of an inflation compensation premium of 2,850 euros was also agreed.
The GDL warning strike was supposed to end on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. DB spokesman Stauß emphasized that the emergency timetable would still apply afterwards. The railway tries to drive the trains to the places or stop them where they are needed on Friday morning. Friday is always a day with high demand, as many people travel home for the weekend.
When will negotiations continue?
Some of the passengers who were unable to start their journey on Thursday will also be on the trains on Friday – so after the warning strike there is a risk of overcrowded trains at the end of the week.
From the point of view of GDL boss Claus Weselsky, it is still unclear when and how both sides will come back to the negotiating table after the warning strike. “We still have to evaluate that, it’s still open,” he told the German Press Agency on Thursday. “I can’t anticipate that, I don’t know what the gentlemen are up to,” added Weselsky, referring to the employers’ side. “I can only point out that we have agreed to negotiate.”
Source: Stern
