The 50-hour strike announced by the German railway union EVG was suspended today, shortly before it began, after reaching an agreement with the state company Deutsche Bahn (DB) to resume wage negotiations.
The compromise was reached before the Frankfurt Labor Court, Deutsche Bahn announced today.
The union confirmed: “We have suspended the strike at Deutsche Bahn for the time being.”
The railway company had filed an urgent appeal before the court on Friday to avoid the strike, which was scheduled to start at 10 p.m. (local) on Sunday.
Deutsche Bahn had already planned the complete interruption of long-distance services during this period and the cancellation of almost all trains on regional services.
The company warned that, even with the lifting of the force measure, there will be restrictions on rail services in the coming days.
“DB faces the great challenge of rescheduling around 50,000 train journeys and the associated shift and deployment schedules,” he reported, according to the dpa agency.
The EVG union, which brings together the majority of workers in the railway and transport sector, stressed that the strike call is still valid for other railway companies and that the strike was only canceled at Deutsche Bahn.
The measure of force had been called by EVG, which had been negotiating since the end of February with 50 railway companies new collective agreements for 230,000 employees, of which 180,000 work for Deutsche Bahn.
Negotiations with most companies are at a standstill. Had it materialized, it would have been the third strike in the sector this year and, according to trade union expert Alexander Gallas, the longest by railway workers in the last 30 years.
EVG demands a salary increase of at least 650 euros gross (710 dollars) per month or 12% for the highest salaries, amid strong inflation in the country, which in April stood at 7.2%, although for below the ceiling reached last October, when it reached 8.8%
The company, for its part, offers one-time bonuses and progressive increases of 10% for low and medium wages, as well as 8% for high wages.
Previous strikes, which lasted only 24 hours, paralyzed rail transport in Germany in March and April and massively affected the national operator DB.
Source: Ambito
