“Unnecessary division”
IG Metall boss sharply criticizes the train drivers’ union
November 19, 2023, 2:49 p.m
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There is a risk of a long strike at the railway in the collective bargaining dispute. The train drivers’ union GDL sends its members to the ballot. This is absurd for Deutsche Bahn. Now the chairwoman of the metal industry union, Christiane Benner, joins the discussion and expresses her displeasure.
The head of the IG Metall union, Christiane Benner, criticized the train drivers’ union GDL in connection with the collective bargaining dispute at Deutsche Bahn. With regard to the EVG and GDL unions, which exist side by side at the railway, Benner told “Bild am Sonntag” (Bams): “For us: one company – one union. I am not a fan of different unions making collective bargaining policy at the railway .”
There is a large union that represents the interests of the railway workforce very successfully, and that is the EVG. The fact that there is also a “very loud train drivers’ union” in the form of the GDL, which only stands up for “a small group” and does not otherwise show solidarity with its colleagues, leads to an “unnecessary division towards the employer”.
On Friday, the GDL announced a strike vote by its members to vote on possible further and longer strikes in the collective bargaining dispute with Deutsche Bahn (DB) after a warning strike last week. The collective bargaining negotiations between DB and GDL officially started last week. Deutsche Bahn submitted an initial offer, which the GDL rejected as insufficient.
Benner: Train drivers’ union provoked
At short notice, the GDL called for a nationwide warning strike starting last Wednesday evening, which caused massive disruption to rail traffic. Benner told “Bams” that she viewed the GDL’s warning strike with mixed feelings: the GDL had “at least provoked”. The fact that restrictions on the right to strike are now being discussed again is nonsense. “Striking is our right,” added Benner.
Deutsche Bahn also sharply criticized the ballot. The move “at this point in time is strange and completely irrational,” said a DB spokesman. “The negotiations have not even been declared a failure. The train drivers’ union is only looking for conflict; it is not in a position to cooperate.” Deutsche Bahn also referred to the 11 percent offer presented in the first round of negotiations.
The GDL is only negotiating for around 10,000 of the DB’s total of around 220,000 employees – mainly the train crew and vehicle maintenance employees. At the end of August, the railway reached an agreement with the Railway and Transport Union (EVG), which had a significantly larger number of members, on a collective bargaining agreement negotiated in arbitration.