Standstill around the holidays?
Weselsky does not allow a timetable for the strike to be dictated to him
November 27, 2023, 12:56 p.m
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Not being able to get to your loved ones on time before Christmas or not being back on time afterwards – the horror vision of many train travelers. And that could become reality, believes GDL boss Weselsky. He doesn’t want to be talked into the timing of a possible strike.
The head of the train drivers’ union GDL, Claus Weselsky, still leaves it open whether the union would also go on strike shortly before or shortly after Christmas. The GDL has never gone on strike over Christmas and will not do so this year either, said Weselsky in an interview with “The Pioneer”. “I just don’t let Mr (DB Human Resources Director Martin) Seiler dictates when the Christmas truce begins and until when it has to run. That’s not his job, it’s what we decide,” said Weselsky.
Last week, the GDL boss ruled out labor disputes on the rails at Christmas. However, a particularly large number of people do not travel by train on Christmas Day, but rather in the week before and the week after, and many only after the turn of the year. In the conversation, Weselsky also left it open as to what will happen in the short term in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute.
The GDL declared the negotiations with Deutsche Bahn to have failed last Friday and announced warning strikes. Further details, such as the date and duration, remain open so far.
The GDL demands, among other things, a shorter weekly working time for shift workers of 35 instead of 38 hours. In the “The Pioneer” interview, Weselsky emphasized that he was willing to negotiate on the issue: “Every practitioner who is involved in collective bargaining and who grew up in the railway system knows that this reduction can never happen all at once, but rather in steps over time.” said the 64-year-old. There is a strike because the railway refuses any negotiations on this and other points.