Saturday, September 4th 2021
SPD criticizes union plans
A dispute over the right to strike broke out
Under the impression of the current rail strike, economic experts from the Union parties are calling for the right to strike to be tightened. SPD parliamentary group Vice Mast reacted to this with clear criticism: unions should not be weakened. Meanwhile, the railway wants to bring more long-distance trains onto the track.
The SPD has sharply criticized a demand from the ranks of the CDU and CSU that the right to strike should be tightened. “The right to strike is in the Basic Law. Rightly so,” said SPD parliamentary deputy Katja Mast. “You don’t even change that quickly with a CDU position paper.” Rather, it is about further strengthening collective bargaining coverage. “As nerve-wracking as the current train drivers’ strike is” – there shouldn’t be any weakening of unions through the back door, said Mast.
Previously, “Bild” reported on plans by the Union’s SME Association to tighten the right to strike. In a resolution that the newspaper has, it says that in individual areas such as rail and air traffic, but also in medical care and nursing, other industrial action rules should apply in the future in order to prevent “uninvolved third parties from being excessively burdened”.
Mandatory arbitration procedure required
According to the newspaper, the demands include an obligation to give notice of at least four days before labor disputes, clear rules for maintaining basic services and a mandatory arbitration procedure before collective bargaining fails. According to its own information, the Union SME Association has 25,000 members from the sister parties CDU and CSU.
The debate takes place against the background of the current strike by the train drivers’ union GDL at Deutsche Bahn. Despite massive criticism from the union side, the GDL continued its strike on Saturday. According to the railway, the replacement service ran “as planned”, but the company repeated its recommendation to passengers to postpone trips if possible. The chairman of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), Reiner Hoffmann, accused the GDL of merely pursuing individual interests and called on them to re-negotiate with the railways.
Over the weekend, the railway wants to offer 30 percent of the train connections in long-distance traffic, on the previous days of the strike it was 25 percent. In local transport, around 40 percent of the trains were again on the move this Saturday, albeit with strong regional differences.
.