The next collective bargaining dispute at the railway is coming up – and strikes are also possible. Human resources manager Seiler has now suggested mediated collective bargaining negotiations. Next week it could be clear whether this will happen.
Railway personnel director Martin Seiler considers the demands of the employees before the upcoming collective bargaining round with the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL) to be “unfulfillable” – and is bringing mediated collective bargaining negotiations into play. Seiler said: “If we were to meet the GDL’s demands, our personnel costs would increase by over 50 percent and that cannot be justified by anything, absolutely nothing.”
In particular, the union’s demand for a reduction in working hours from 38 to 35 hours for shift workers with full wage compensation is “unfeasible”. Seiler added: “That would mean that if we were to fully implement this, we would have to hire around 10,000 additional employees for shift work.” That is unimaginable given the tight labor market.
Conversations mediated by conflict counselors
Seiler called on the union under its boss Claus Weselsky to enter into a moderated discussion in the style of a kind of arbitration right from the start with the mediation of “conflict advisors”. Possibilities and compromises could be explored in the form of an exploratory exercise. Experienced conflict mediators should be on board right from the start and look for a solution.
We want to get out of the conflict spiral, we want to get into a solution mode.
Mediated discussions usually take the form of arbitration when regular collective bargaining has failed. In the railway’s most recent collective bargaining round with the larger railway and transport union (EVG), such a procedure ultimately brought about an agreement. Seiler has now suggested a format based on this to the GDL right from the start.
Please respond by the end of next week
As long as talks are taking place in this form, there must be a duty to make peace, emphasized Seiler. A corresponding proposal was sent to the GDL in writing. Seiler asked the union for an answer by the end of next week. The first day of negotiations is scheduled for November 9th in Berlin.
The union expressed skepticism about the railway’s proposal on Friday. The GDL has always been open to arbitration proceedings in the past. However, such a format never existed from the start. “If an arbitrator is brought in from the start, the negotiator takes himself out of the race,” Weselsky told the “Südwest Presse”.
Collective agreements expire at the end of October
The collective agreements with the GDL expire at the end of October – then the peace obligation ends. In addition to a reduction in working hours, the union is demanding, among other things, at least 555 euros more per month and an inflation compensation bonus for a period of twelve months.
The GDL also wants to expand its influence on the railways and also negotiate on behalf of employees in the infrastructure division in this round. The GDL does not yet have any collective agreements there.