Image: (APA/DPA/SVEN HOPPE)
The 35-hour strike by the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL) is scheduled to end at 1 p.m. Even after the strike ends, there will still be delays, warned Deutsche Bahn (DB). Seat reservations were recommended for trips on Friday. The warning strike by Lufthansa ground staff also continues.
ÖBB long-distance trains via the Deutsche Eck between Salzburg and Kufstein are expected to run as scheduled until the end of the strike on Friday afternoon. Details about the affected train connections can be found on oebb.at and in the ÖBB timetable app SCOTTY. Westbahn trains to and from Munich and Rosenheim as well as via the Deutsche Eck to Tyrol and Vorarlberg also run as scheduled. On Thursday, several Lufthansa flights Vienna-Munich were affected by the strike.
In German long-distance traffic, around 20 percent of the usual trains are on the road; on the regional lines in the north, Deutsche Bahn has once again set up an emergency service and, in some cases, a replacement service with buses. The S-Bahn Hamburg is offering the same frequency as on previous strike days. According to the company, trains will run every 20 minutes on lines S1, S2 and S3, while the S5 between Neugraben and Stade will run every hour. The companies Metronom, Erixx and AKN are not on strike.
- Also read: Millions of passengers affected: strikes paralyze rail and parts of air traffic in Germany
Negotiations should be resumed
The GDL is calling for a reduction from 38 to 35 hours for shift workers without financial losses. A negotiation phase lasting several weeks behind closed doors failed last week. Even external mediators were unable to find a solution. The GDL rejected its proposal to gradually reduce working hours to 36 hours per week by 2028 with full wage compensation. The strike in DB Cargo freight traffic began on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. and is scheduled to last until Friday at 5 a.m.
Deutsche Bahn has offered the train drivers’ union a resumption of the broken collective bargaining this Monday. There was a corresponding invitation to the GDL, said a company spokesman when asked in Berlin on Friday. The railway has not yet received a response from the GDL.
As we learned from negotiating circles, the railway made it clear in the letter that it was not true that the company had rejected intermediaries’ proposal to shorten weekly working hours. Rather, they had already agreed back then, on February 26, to “go beyond our pain threshold and to complete the negotiations on the basis of the moderators’ overall proposal.”
Strike at Lufthansa
The warning strike by Lufthansa ground staff is also still ongoing at AUA parent company Lufthansa. The Verdi union has called on Lufthansa employees at Hamburg’s Helmut Schmidt Airport to take industrial action by 7:10 a.m. on Saturday. According to the airport, affected passengers are encouraged to contact the airline to find out about cancellations and rebooking options. According to online information from the airport, 15 departures and arrivals each of Lufthansa aircraft were canceled for Friday.
14 flights are canceled in Dresden, a spokesman for Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG said on Friday. Connections to and from Munich and Frankfurt are affected. In Leipzig/Halle, 14 flights are affected, one of them to and from Vienna.
In the tariff conflict with Lufthansa, Verdi had demanded 12.5 percent more money and an inflation compensation bonus with a term of one year. Lufthansa has so far offered 10 percent higher salaries for a 28-month contract. It is already the third strike in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute for around 25,000 ground service employees.
Verdi had also called on the aviation security forces at Hamburg Airport to go on a warning strike, but only until Thursday evening at 10 p.m. The airport operator canceled all departures planned for Thursday. The airport now expects high levels of flight utilization for Friday, as numerous rebookings are expected from Thursday to Friday.
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