He gets it, but he doesn’t get it: Deutsche Bahn (DB) is accommodating the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL) and its boss Claus Weselsky with the 35-hour week. It allows the union to reduce working hours to just 35 hours by 2029 – but not automatically.
Bahn and GDL have agreed on a so-called election model for shift staff. The reduction in working hours should therefore take place as part of an opt-in model: Anyone who only wants to work 35 hours per week in the future must explicitly register this. Deutsche Bahn speaks of an “innovative option model” with which employees will be able to decide for themselves about their weekly working hours in the future. The corridor of possible working hours should ultimately be 35 to 40 hours. In addition, the so-called performance principle should apply: those who work more earn more. “This is a groundbreaking solution that enables flexibility, participation and transformation,” said DB Human Resources Director Seiler. Politico first reported on the details of the agreement.
First of all, in 2026 the so-called reference working hours for all employees in shift work will automatically fall from the current 38 to 37 hours. The further reductions (from 2027 to 36, from 2028 to 35.5 and from 2029 to 35 hours) will no longer occur automatically as initially requested by GDL boss Weselsky. Instead, employees have to contact the railway themselves if they want to reduce their working hours. But you can also decide on a constant number of working hours or even more working hours: Anyone who does this will receive 2.7 percent more wages per hour. For example, train drivers or train attendants would earn around 14 percent more in a 40-hour week than in a 35-hour week.
“Intelligent compromise”
Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union announced an agreement in the collective bargaining dispute late on Monday evening. Now the first details of the agreement are leaking out – or of the “intelligent compromise”, as Seiler puts it.
Another part of this compromise is a wage increase totaling 420 euros in two steps: 210 euros more per month on August 1, 2024 and another 210 euros on April 1, 2025. In addition, an inflation compensation bonus of 2,850 euros is to be introduced from March paid out in two stages. The collective agreement concluded between Bahn and GDL runs for 26 months until December 31, 2025.
This means that there is now a bit of peace and quiet again on the railway – just in time for the Easter holidays, which are considered a particularly busy time for travel. As things stand, the next strikes will only be possible from April 1, 2025, when the other rail union EVG negotiates a collective agreement again. Many passengers will have longed for this calm in recent months: the GDL has struck rail traffic six times since November, the highlight being a five-day strike in January.