The 35-hour week at Deutsche Bahn can come – gradually until 2029. This is what the agreement in the tariff dispute between Bahn and GDL provides for. The union described the agreement as a success. An election model made the difference for the railway.
It’s a relief for passengers and the economy: the months-long wage dispute between Deutsche Bahn and the train drivers’ union GDL has been resolved. The focus of the agreement is the GDL’s core demand: the 35-hour week for employees in shift work. It will be introduced gradually until 2029 – as a flexible election model. Anyone who wants to work more despite the possibility of 35 hours per week with full wage compensation can do so within a working time range of 35 to 40 hours per week and receive more money.
Railway representatives, who had been adamant for a long time and were recently prepared to reduce working hours to 36 hours per week, now expressed satisfaction. DB Human Resources Director Martin Seiler described the non-mandatory introduction of the 35-hour week as a crucial point for the group’s approval. “In the end, we managed to reach an intelligent compromise,” said Seiler in a press statement.
More money for more hours per week
The compromise reached stipulates that the “reference working time” will fall to 37 hours per week in 2026, to 36 hours in 2027 and by a further half hour each in 2028 and 2029 to ultimately reach 35 hours.
In 2025, employees will be asked whether they want to work 37 hours or more from the following January; If you don’t respond, the delay automatically goes to 37 hours. In subsequent years it is the other way around: those who do not report remain with the higher number of hours per week and receive 2.7 percent more money for each additional hour.
“Innovative, modern and ultimately a good solution for everyone,” said Seiler, summing up the new model. It gives the railway flexibility and helps with transformation, explained Seiler. He also described the model as capacity-saving and was confident that the company will be able to adapt to the increased need for employees in the coming years: “We assume that we will reach the personnel capacity up to the respective reduction steps.” Especially since the railway will take on a record number of 6,000 trainees this year.
Weselsky still in fight mode
The GDL clearly sees itself as the winner of the collective agreement. With a swipe at the employers’ side, union leader Claus Weselsky said in his statement: “It is difficult to sell a failure as a success.” The union itself has not experienced failure, but success almost across the board, said Weselsky. The only thing that has not made any progress is the demand to extend collective bargaining responsibility to other DB divisions.
Nevertheless, Weselsky began his statement, which he made separately from Seiler, with clear criticism of the DB Group. According to him, the dispute is not over because other parts of the company do not receive the result achieved. Because the railway will apply the tariff result in only 18 companies.
Weselsky blamed the employer solely for the long labor dispute. “If it had been up to us, we would have reached this compromise much sooner.” The court proceedings initiated – and lost – by the DB against the GDL alone are evidence of the employer’s lack of willingness to reach an agreement for a long time, said the GDL boss and apologized to the passengers for the six rounds of strikes that preceded the collective agreement.
Higher wages agreed
In addition to agreeing on the flexible elective working time model, Deutsche Bahn and GDL also agreed to increase wages. This should come in two steps: 210 euros more per month on August 1, 2024 and another 210 euros on April 1, 2025. An inflation compensation bonus of 2,850 euros should also be paid out in two stages from March.
Passenger Association is relieved
For passengers, the agreement means clarity that train journeys are not at risk from strikes in the medium term. The peace obligation with the GDL applies until the end of February 2026. The collective agreement in the area of remuneration runs for 26 months until December 31, 2025, followed by a two-month negotiation phase during which no strikes are possible.
The passenger association was also correspondingly satisfied. “This is a real relief for the passengers,” said the association’s chairman, Detlef Neuß, to the Rheinische Post. However, the agreement could have been reached “without so many strikes”. According to the report, Neuß described the implementation of the choice model for working hours as difficult. “But you also have to say: You can’t get new staff without better working conditions.”
FDP continues to push for reform of the right to strike
Despite the collective agreement, the months-long dispute with the six rounds of strikes has left its mark in the form of a discussion about changing the right to strike. The agreement is “good news for customers,” explained the economic policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Reinhard Houben. “Nevertheless, the past few weeks have shown that we need guard rails for striking in the area of critical infrastructure.” The party announced that it would work on reforming the right to strike in the near future.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing from the FDP warned against a repeat of the long tariff conflict. Both parties have proven that it is possible to find a solution together even in tense times – even if the differences initially seemed irreconcilable, said Wissing appreciatively. “But it is also clear that the way things were done here should not be ignored. Collective bargaining autonomy is a valuable asset that everyone must use very responsibly.” After the past few months, it is no wonder that the question has been raised as to whether the right to strike might need to be adapted to the circumstances of the time.