Wednesday, September 1st, 2021
Will the strike still be averted?
Bahn renews its offer and hopes for GDL
Since the afternoon many freight trains have come to a standstill again. Starting tomorrow, there will also be impairments on rail passenger transport. The third wave of strikes by the GDL is tough. The railway tries to steer the union back to the negotiating table.
In the wage dispute with the train drivers’ union GDL, Deutsche Bahn has presented a new offer. It includes a corona premium of up to 600 euros and a term of the collective agreement of 36 months, as reported by railroad circles. So far, the railway had offered a term of 40 months and had not quantified the amount of the premium. The offer had been submitted to GDL in writing, it said. Shortly before that, the third strike of the current collective bargaining round had started in freight transport.
Even before the previous round of strikes last week, the state-owned railway had promised a corona bonus and thus hoped to be able to avert the labor dispute at the time. GDL boss Claus Weselsky rejected the move shortly afterwards and criticized, among other things, that the railway had not given a specific number. The now offered € 600 bonus corresponds to the demands of the union.
With the term of a collective agreement, however, the GDL wants to achieve 29 months. She also wants the first tariff level of 1.7 percent to be paid in the current year. An answer from Weselsky to the offer of the railway is still pending.
The union had started the freight transport strike that afternoon. On Thursday morning at 2 a.m., the labor dispute is to be expanded to include passenger traffic. This time the strike will last more than five days. It is unclear whether the railway can still prevent the industrial action with the renewed advance.
“There is no longer any reason for a strike,” said Martin Seiler, Chief Human Resources Officer. The industrial action must be stopped. The railway wants to meet the union’s central demands. The GDL must give up its “blocking attitude” and come to the negotiating table.
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