Even at the weekend, the railway continues to strike – only one in three long-distance trains runs. Nevertheless, many sides are calling on the GDL to return to negotiating.
Berlin / Frankfurt am Main – For the third time in just a few weeks, more than 9500 Deutsche Bahn * employees went on strike on Thursday at the initiative of the GDL train drivers’ union, around 7000 of them train drivers. This also led to canceled connections, late and full trains at the weekend. Instead of a new compromise offer on the part of the railways, the GDL received increased criticism, even on the part of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB).
Their boss, Reiner Hoffmann, accused the GDL of particular interests after the rail offer was rejected on Wednesday and called on the trade unionists to start talks with Deutsche Bahn again after months of pauses in negotiations. Hoffmann criticized the GDL for asserting the interests of the train drivers against the overall interests of all other railway employees. Although the differences between the union and the railway are not very big, GDL boss Claus Weselsky refuses to return to the negotiating table, Hoffmann told the “Rheinische Post”.
Tariff dispute between GDL and Deutsche Bahn: criticism of the rail strike from many sides
The managing director of the Association of German Transport Companies, Oliver Wolff, also said: “We are experiencing that passengers no longer have any understanding of the duration of the strikes and the GDL’s persistence * not to return to the negotiating table. The managing director of the transport alliance Allianz pro Schiene, Dirk Flege, said: “In the interests of the millions of rail customers as well as climate protection, I can only hope that this labor dispute will soon end.” Strikes are incomprehensible to most outsiders. “I do not hope that customers will be scared off by the strike and that they will increasingly switch to buses and cars in the future.”
After all, on the first strike weekend of the collective bargaining round, the railway managed to get every third long-distance train on the rails on the weekend days of the return trip weekend in Saxony and Thuringia instead of around a quarter. In local and S-Bahn traffic it was around 40 percent. The regions in eastern Germany were worst hit, as were the German metropolitan regions, where numerous connections converge.
Rail strike: GDL rejects offer from Deutsche Bahn – the company’s lawsuit fails
The GDL is demanding 3.2 percent more money with a term of 28 months and a corona premium of 600 euros. At the start of the strike, the railway had presented an improved offer. For example, the group is promising a corona premium of up to 600 euros for 2021 and a collective agreement term of 36 months. The wages are to rise in two stages by 3.2 percent. Weselsky had refused.
The GDL wants to negotiate for other professional groups, for example for workshop employees as well as employees in administration, infrastructure or signal boxes. According to the railway, only a few workers from these trades take part in the strike. The GDL gives higher numbers. Deutsche Bahn failed on Thursday and Friday in two instances with an injunction against the strike before labor courts in Frankfurt. She accuses the GDL of pursuing legal and political goals with the strike. The strike is said to last until 2 a.m. on Tuesday. (ska / dpa) * fr.de and fnp.de are offers from IPPEN.MEDIA
List of rubric lists: © Michael Matthey / dpa
