Train drivers union GDL resolves industrial action at the railway

Status: 23.06.2021 12:54 p.m.

With the beginning of the summer holidays in some federal states, rail passengers have to be prepared for strikes. The train drivers’ union GDL decided a labor dispute. The GDL intends to announce tomorrow exactly how it should look. At Deutsche Bahn, train driver strikes in the middle of the holiday season are getting closer. The union of German locomotive drivers (GDL) decided on concrete industrial action after failed negotiations with the employers’ association Move. GDL boss Claus Weselsky will not announce the exact scope and time of possible work stoppages until Thursday at a press conference in Berlin. According to the GDL, the corresponding committee resolutions are available. A railway spokeswoman asked the union to return to the negotiating table. There are well-founded offers for more wages and additional protection against dismissal on the table, about which the GDL top has so far refused serious negotiations.

First warning strike since December 2018

Immediately before the start of the school holidays in several federal states, the union is increasing the pressure on the management of the railway. The GDL declared the negotiations to have failed last Tuesday. It is the first warning strike on the railways since December 2018, when the Railway and Transport Union (EVG) called on its members to take part in a labor dispute. Both unions are fighting with each other for influence in the state company. The EVG had already reached a collective agreement last autumn. From the beginning of 2022, employees will receive 1.5 percent more money – little compared to collective bargaining rounds in better times. Compulsory redundancies are excluded until the end of 2023.

06/08/2021

Deutsche Bahn Train drivers announce strike

The union of German locomotive drivers has decided to take industrial action.

GDL wants more

The GDL wants to get more out of money and working hours. Both sides had moved somewhat towards each other before the failure of the negotiations. Based on the collective bargaining agreement for the public service, the GDL is calling for an income increase of 1.4 percent plus a corona bonus this year and a further 1.8 percent next year. The employees deserved more than compensation for the price increase, argues Weselsky.

According to its own statements, Deutsche Bahn had proposed increases in incomes as in the public sector, but in relation to the airport sector. An “emergency collective agreement” had been concluded for airports because of the slump in traffic. The 1.4 percent increase in income there will only be in October 2022, the other 1.8 percent not until April 2023. Employers will also have the option of reducing working hours by six percent in 2022. The level of the collective agreement for the public service is to be reached in October 2023