“Are ready to talk now”
Bahn wants to avert 50-hour strike
05/11/2023 12:17 p.m
The union announcement that they would go on strike for two full working days apparently made an impression on Deutsche Bahn. According to the company, the wage negotiations announced for the end of May could also be brought forward.
The head of personnel at Deutsche Bahn, Martin Seiler, wants to avert the two-day strike announced by the railway and transport union (EVG) from Sunday evening. The railway is “ready immediately” for talks, including at the weekend, said Seiler in Cologne. “It shouldn’t fail because of us.”
The EVG had previously called for a nationwide strike from Sunday evening 10 p.m. to midnight on Wednesday night at the railways and other transport companies. Above all, she criticizes the fact that the railways did not promise a legal minimum wage without restrictions in the collective bargaining, on which the negotiation results then achieved would be based. Instead, the railways would set a cap of 13 euros in the lower wage groups.
Seiler contradicted this: “It is by no means the case that we offered a cap of 13 euros.” If there is a “misunderstanding” at this point, he would be happy to clarify it personally. He did not say whether Deutsche Bahn was willing to make further concessions to the EVG beyond the previous offer.
He thinks clarification and a cancellation of the strike is possible, but the union would have to move for that, said the railway head of human resources. “The EVG must come to the negotiating table.”
Should there actually be a strike, the effects would probably be “significant,” said the HR manager. This is still being checked, but it is conceivable that nationwide long-distance traffic will have to be suspended for the entire two days.