But with a special clause
GDL enforces a 35-hour week at Go-Ahead
January 5, 2024, 3:39 p.m
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What the train drivers’ union GDL wants above all with Deutsche Bahn, it is achieving with the regional train provider Go-Ahead: a collective agreement with a 35-hour week for shift workers plus a significant wage increase. However, another clause could cause disillusionment.
The train drivers’ union GDL has reached a collective agreement with the railway company Go-Ahead, which operates regional rail routes in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. This includes a 35-hour week for shift workers and a “noticeable increase in pay,” said the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union.
The company includes Go-Ahead Baden-Württemberg, which operates five regional routes with a good 700 kilometers of routes, as well as Go-Ahead Bayern with the routes of the Allgäu electrical network and the Augsburger Netze.
From January 2025, weekly working hours should be reduced “gradually and without a reduction in pay” by a total of three hours to a 35-hour week. Wages will increase by 210 euros in February of this year and again by 210 euros in January of next year. The allowances are increased by an average of 17 percent.
The collective agreement has a term of 24 months. Both sides had already agreed on the payment of an inflation bonus of 3,000 euros in November, as the GDL also announced. Since then, this has been paid out in installments.
Weselsky satisfied
GDL boss Claus Weselsky said he was satisfied with the deal. “This shows that the employer really values its employees and doesn’t just pay lip service to it.” Labor disputes were not necessary.
After the agreement with the rail company Netinera, this is now the GDL’s second agreement in the current collective bargaining round. In both cases, however, there is a clause built in that states that other rail companies must have similar regulations, otherwise the companies can renegotiate accordingly.
The GDL is still at loggerheads in the collective bargaining dispute with Deutsche Bahn, which is why there is a risk of longer strikes nationwide from Monday. So far, the railway has not wanted to negotiate a reduction in weekly working hours with full wage compensation. On Friday she offered to negotiate more flexible working hours, allowing shift workers to work 35 hours a week.