Insiders report signals: GDL and Bahn are talking to each other again


Insiders report signals
GDL and Bahn are talking to each other again

The knot in the wage dispute between the railways and train drivers has not yet broken, but insiders report talks. In addition, both sides are rhetorically disarming. The EVG reminds the federal government that the state-owned company has not yet received the promised aid during the Corona crisis.

In the stalled wage dispute between the train drivers’ union GDL and Deutsche Bahn, there is apparently movement. There are informal contacts between the conflicting parties, said several people familiar with the matter. Neither the railway nor the GDL commented on this. Both sides recently emphasized that they had agreed not to disclose.

After three waves of strikes, it is eagerly awaited how the union will evaluate a recently improved offer from the state-owned company. At the beginning of the week, the federal government asked both sides to return to the negotiating table and “find a solution as soon as possible.” The railway had met the train drivers on the weekend and had promised an additional remuneration component. However, the group is keeping a low profile as to what this might look like. In addition to the required wage increase of 3.2 percent, the group is also offering a corona bonus of up to 600 euros for 2021.

The GDL had rejected an earlier rail offer. Thereupon the railway wanted to have the recusal to be prohibited in court as disproportionate, but failed. The company has also given the union the prospect of reducing the duration of a collective agreement from 40 to 36 months. The GDL, however, requires 28 months.

EVG announces review of collective bargaining agreement

Bahn personnel director Martin Seiler has repeatedly asked the union to resume talks and to find compromises. The GDL ended its third and so far longest strike in this collective bargaining round on Tuesday last week. On Thursday, however, the union threatened to start preparing for the next labor dispute at the beginning of this week if the group management did not submit an improved offer by then.

In the industry it was now said that both sides were apparently trying to rhetorically disarm the conflict, which was also verbally heated. The Railway and Transport Union (EVG) expects an early conclusion between the railway and the GDL and has announced that it will open its collective agreement with a special right of termination if the GDL should get more out of the employees than it does.

Meanwhile, the EVG is urging the federal government to quickly pay the announced financial aid for Deutsche Bahn. “The situation is still serious and the planned economic upswing has not materialized,” said a member’s circular. In it, union chief Klaus-Dieter Hommel expressed doubts about the reliability of the federal government. So far, virtually no money has reached the railway from the aid that has been promised. “At the moment, payments of more than eight billion euros are still outstanding, which of course are urgently needed.”

Rising corona numbers are putting pressure on business

Hommel spoke of a breach of the “alliance for our railways” that had been concluded with the employees last year. With its collective bargaining agreement last year, the EVG had already made a concrete contribution to overcoming the crisis. Among other things, the union had accepted a zero round this year.

At lunchtime, the state company’s supervisory board discussed the economic situation. Declining infection numbers and withdrawn corona measures have led to significantly more people traveling by train again in the summer. In view of the renewed increase in the number of infections, however, expectations for the rest of the year are cautious.

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