Press
Passengers don’t have much understanding for the new rail strike. The daily topics show angry people at the train station and there is also discontent online.
Berlin – The woman doesn’t hold back her anger. “To be honest, I’m slowly getting fed up with it,” she tells the television crew at Berlin Central Station. In the Topics of the day on Sunday evening (March 10th) at 10:45 p.m., her original sound and the contributions of other passengers symbolize the current anger at Germany’s train stations. A few days after the recent wave strike by the train drivers’ union GDLthe railway workers will stop work again tomorrow, Tuesday (March 12th).
From 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning in passenger traffic and in freight traffic from Monday evening (March 11th) from 6 p.m., there will be a strike for the sixth time in this collective bargaining round. The GDL union announced this on Sunday evening. Little will happen on the rails for 24 hours – depending on the extent to which Deutsche Bahn (DB) can implement an emergency plan. If the company fails to do this, all long-distance transport could perhaps even be stopped.
Rail strike could become an image problem for GDL boss – sympathizers are moving away
The railway has now filed a lawsuit against this and submitted an urgent application for an interim injunction to the Frankfurt Labor Court. The “far too short” lead time was “a sheer imposition,” said DB Human Resources Director Martin Seiler. Volker Wissing (FDP), Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, also reported on Monday morning. On the short message service X (formerly Twitter) he wrote: “Striking instead of negotiating is irresponsible. Mr. Weselsky continues to overreach and is damaging the entire country. The GDL has to talk and be prepared to compromise itself.”
The new rail strike could now happen for GDL boss Claus Weselsky become an image problem. He also makes it difficult for those who actually sympathize with him. The reactions in front of the television cameras and on social media show that the wind may have changed and passengers no longer have any understanding for the strike.
Are the “wrong people” negotiating with each other in the dispute between the railways and the GDL union?
“It annoys me that they are paralyzing the entire republic for their own interests,” says a man in Tagesthemen. Another apparently sees both sides as responsible and says meaningfully: “Yes, maybe it’s the wrong people who are negotiating with each other.”
CSU General Secretary Martin Huber may also have this opinion. “The negotiations are completely deadlocked: Transport Minister Wissing must finally intervene, the negotiators at GDL and Bahn should be replaced,” he said X announce. The strike is becoming more and more “an end in itself and less and less industrial action. Millions of commuters are being taken hostage.” The CSU politician and Federal Transport Minister Wissing are not the only ones who are getting involved in the debate about X.
Calculation games on the Internet: Railway workers are on strike for a 30-hour week?
“It makes you wonder whether our right to strike is still up to date. The arrogance of a small union is not above the well-being of the entire country. The chairman’s ego has failed three times,” writes construction and housing policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group Daniel Föst. And the Hamburg CDU MP Franziska Hoppermann says: “Strikes again this week. Again in parallel with Lufthansa and Bahn. Honestly. That does not work like this. Despite all my understanding of tough collective bargaining, I lack proportionality, dear GDL! This is taking the customers hostage.”
Others approach it with humor and play math games. “The GDL has now gone on strike so often that by 2024 the railway employees will have already worked an average of less than 35 hours per week. There are only 4 rail strikes left to reach the 30-hour week! Weselsky is a fox…” writes one user.
Passengers angry on the network: GDL is taking them “hostage” and is not deviating from the maximum demand
“I am fed up. Got a really good deal before the strike last Thursday and because of one hour, ONE per week, they take the train guests hostage again and again. This no longer has anything to do with industrial action. Initially supported, now pissed off,” another person explains their change of heart. Another user expresses his displeasure extremely succinctly. He posts a black bag with the letters “FCK GDL” written on it in bold letters.
The customers were probably already angry before the last strike announcement. A post from Thursday (March 7th) has a particularly large number of likes. “Train drivers currently work 38 hours a week. The GDL requires 35 hours. The train offers 36 hours. The GDL does not deviate from its maximum demand and responds with a strike. Nobody in the private sector negotiates like that,” criticizes one user and gets 6,600 likes for it.
But there is also “solidarity with the strikers” from the railway on social media
But there are also users who still understand. “Solidarity with strikers! Discuss with complainers and compare real wage developments with the cost of living and corporate profits! Stay combative & don’t let anyone tell you shit: THERE’S MORE THAN ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY THE WORKERS ADEQUATELY,” advises one.
And another – apparently a train driver – gives the Internet community an insight into the life of a railway worker. There are regular shifts in which, as a train driver, you spend hours driving pointlessly with your colleagues. “It’s not difficult to find a shift on the weekend that lasts 11.5 hours, but where you only move a train for 4.5 hours. The rest of the time you sit around here, around there, maybe. If you drive a car to fill up, yes.” With “better personnel planning” alone, the 35-hour week could be introduced at the railway, he concludes.
It is currently unclear whether and when the dispute between the railway and the union will end and whether passengers will have to prepare for further strikes. What is certain is that there will be significant disruptions on Tuesday. Flixtrain and Flixbus offer alternatives, and there are also each Different options depending on region. (Florian Neuroth)