Tariff dispute with EVG
Deutsche Bahn presents new offer
May 25, 2023, 4:48 p.m
After the heated wage negotiations of the past few weeks, the railway company and the EVG seem to have come closer. The employer submits a new offer. The union sees improvements and comments on possible warning strikes.
In the collective bargaining dispute at Deutsche Bahn, the employer has submitted a new offer for a good 180,000 employees. This provides twelve percent more money for the lower, ten percent more for the middle and eight percent more for the upper income groups, as the group announced.
The increases are to take place in two stages, the first in December 2023. DB is also offering to pay an inflation compensation premium of 2850 euros – 1450 euros of which is expected in July and a further 1400 euros in November. “We are stretching ourselves enormously. It must now be possible to conclude this,” said DB HR Director Martin Seiler.
DB has been negotiating a new collective agreement with the railway and transport union EVG since the end of February. Since then, the EVG has twice called for a warning strike, and a third particularly long warning strike was called off at short notice. Since Tuesday, the delegations from both sides have been sitting together in Fulda in the “Deutsche Bahn AG training center” as part of the fourth round of negotiations and discussed in various constellations and working groups, sometimes until late in the evening.
During the negotiations, the EVG demands at least 650 euros more per month and twelve percent for the upper income groups. According to the ideas of the union, the term of the collective agreement should be 12 months. In its current offer, Deutsche Bahn provides for twice as long a duration.
Deutsche Bahn has asked the EVG for feedback on the new offer by next Tuesday (May 30). This, in turn, ruled out further warning strikes for the next few days after the offer had been submitted. Deutsche Bahn submitted an improved offer, said negotiator Kristian Loroch. “We will now evaluate this in peace and then comment on it.” The aim is to continue the collective bargaining in the coming week. “We can rule out labor disputes until then,” the EVG said.