Railway announces emergency timetable
Train drivers want to go on strike this week
November 14, 2023, 7:50 p.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
In order to emphasize their demands, the train drivers’ union GDL wants to go on strike this week. The employees should stop working for 20 hours. The railway sharply criticizes the union’s behavior.
The train drivers’ union GDL wants to go on strike from Wednesday evening in the collective bargaining dispute with Deutsche Bahn. The GDL announced that the strike would last from 10 p.m. to Thursday at 6 p.m. “The employees’ dissatisfaction is great, their concerns are legitimate,” said GDL chairman Claus Weselsky, justifying the strike call for the train drivers, train attendants, dispatchers and members of other professional groups organized by them. “Now is the time to make improvements, there is no delay,” he emphasized.
Deutsche Bahn will offer an emergency timetable during the warning strike. The company announced that the number of trips available would be significantly reduced. “For these journeys, the DB uses longer trains with more seats in order to be able to bring as many people as possible to their destination. However, a ride cannot be guaranteed.” In regional transport, the aim of the railway is also to bring a greatly reduced offer onto the rails. “The extent to which this is possible varies greatly from region to region. In any case, there will also be massive restrictions on regional transport,” the company said.
At the same time, the railway sharply criticized the GDL’s actions. “This is an unreasonable expectation for rail passengers. This strike is completely unnecessary,” said Human Resources Director Martin Seiler. “We have negotiations on the calendar on Thursday and Friday that we agreed upon together. The train drivers’ union is ignoring agreements and acting irresponsibly.”
The collective bargaining negotiations between Bahn and GDL began on Thursday. With a collective agreement term of one year, the GDL is demanding a wage increase of at least 555 euros and an increase in allowances for shift work by 25 percent. She also wants to achieve a 35-hour week with full wage compensation and tax-free inflation payments of 3,000 euros for employees in shift work.
The company offers eleven percent more wages and an inflation bonus of up to 2,850 euros for a term of 32 months. The group rejected the reduction in working hours with full wage compensation demanded by the GDL as unachievable. GDL boss Weselsky, however, emphasized that this was “non-negotiable”.
The federal head of the German Civil Service Association, Ulrich Silberbach, did not rule out joint strikes with the GDL in the second round of collective bargaining for employees in the federal states except Hesse at the beginning of November. The GDL is a member union in the Civil Service Association. At the weekend, Verdi boss Frank Werneke announced “massive actions” in the public service wage dispute before the next negotiations on December 7th and 8th.