German train drivers also announce a strike starting on Tuesday

The German Locomotive Drivers’ Union has called for the next warning strike in the collective bargaining dispute with Deutsche Bahn. On Tuesday from 2 a.m. there will be further extensive restrictions on long-distance, regional and freight transport for 24 hours, the union announced on Sunday evening. The strike in freight transport will begin next Monday at 6 p.m. and will end on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

• Also read: Another strike at Lufthansa: flight attendants want to stop work

Since the GDL railway board has not submitted a new offer since January 19th, “this will inevitably lead to industrial action,” it said. Just last week, the GDL’s fifth strike in the current collective bargaining round hit millions of commuters. There is increasing discontent about this in business and politics.

Deutsche Bahn had previously announced on Sunday that it was inviting the GDL again to collective bargaining on Monday. “We are convinced that we will only be able to reach an agreement through dialogue at the negotiating table,” explained Human Resources Director Martin Seiler. Switching to a written exchange of offers and answers at this very advanced stage of the negotiations would not be productive. On Friday, the GDL asked DB to submit a written offer by 6 p.m. on Sunday.

• More on the subject: Millions of passengers affected: strikes paralyze rail and parts of air traffic in Germany

The GDL explained in the evening that the railway was continuing the provocation and was inevitably forcing the GDL to continue the dispute, to the chagrin of DB customers. “The GDL agreement proposals have been on the DB’s table since January 23, 2024 and the board has nothing better to do than refuse to work.” Instead of submitting a written offer and finding viable solutions with the GDL within the framework of collective bargaining, the PR campaign continued to act as if the GDL was not willing to compromise.

Muddled situation

The railway had previously stated that it had repeatedly agreed in the past few days to complete the negotiations on the basis of the overall package proposed by the moderators. This also includes a 36-hour week with full salary compensation. If the GDL does not want to go this route, the DB is also prepared to enter into formal arbitration.

The latest strike by the train drivers’ union ended on Friday afternoon. From 2 a.m. on Thursday, train drivers paralyzed large parts of local and long-distance transport across Germany. Connections between Germany and Austria were also affected. There had been no freight traffic since Wednesday evening. GDL boss Claus Weselsky said on Deutschlandfunk that future strikes would only be announced at short notice, no longer 48 hours in advance as before.

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