Next negotiations at the end of April
EVG rules out strikes up to and including Easter
03/27/2023 2:51 p.m
Thanks to the participation of more than 30,000 colleagues, rail traffic in Germany is almost completely paralysed. The strike by the EVG union is said to be the last for the time being. It is said that there are no further work stoppages up to and including Easter. But employers would have to deliver.
The railway and transport union (EVG) has ruled out further warning strikes on the railways around Easter. There will be no walkouts “before Easter and during Easter,” said EVG deputy chairman and chief negotiator Kristian Loroch in Frankfurt am Main.
What happens after the Easter holidays also depends on the reaction of the employer. Before the next planned round of negotiations with Deutsche Bahn on April 24th and 25th, a “negotiable offer” must be on the table, Loroch demanded. He did not generally rule out the possibility of further warning strikes leading up to this round of negotiations. In principle, however, the EVG wanted to return to the negotiating table. Loroch rejected Deutsche Bahn’s demands for a much earlier continuation of the talks.
The service company Verdi and the EVG had called a total of around 350,000 employees in various areas nationwide for a day-long industrial action for Monday. Verdi wants to put pressure on the collective bargaining conflict in the public sector, the EVG is in collective bargaining with the railways and 50 other companies.
According to EVG collective bargaining board member Cosima Ingenschay, more than 31,000 colleagues in the collective bargaining area of the union took part in the walkouts nationwide on Monday. This is a “clear statement” that negotiable offers are expected. In addition to railway workers, the EVG also represents bus drivers, service staff in the transport industry and inland waterway operators.