According to the Frankfurt Labor Court’s decision, there could be strikes at the railway from Wednesday. The company announced a replacement timetable with severely limited offerings.
Deutsche Bahn assumes that the train drivers’ strike will affect millions of passengers this week. The company announced a replacement timetable for Wednesday to Friday with severely limited offerings. “For these journeys, the DB uses longer trains with more seats in order to be able to bring as many people as possible to their destination. However, a ride cannot be guaranteed,” the company said.
Passengers are asked to avoid non-essential train journeys during the strike or to postpone their journey. There will be big differences across Germany in how many trains can run in regional traffic. “There will also be massive restrictions on industry and the economy in rail freight transport,” the statement said.
Long-distance journeys can be brought forward
The company also announced goodwill rules again: All passengers who would like to postpone their trip planned between Wednesday and Friday because of the strike can use their ticket later. The train connection has been lifted. Seat reservations can be canceled free of charge. Long-distance passengers also have the option of bringing their journey forward.
The train drivers’ union GDL wants to strike in passenger transport from Wednesday 2 a.m. to Friday 6 p.m. – in a week in which severe disruptions in road traffic are expected due to the farmers’ protests. Experience has shown that even before the strike, some trains do not run according to plan. In addition, it usually takes some time for traffic to return to normal.
Similar effects to those expected from warning strikes
During two shorter GDL warning strikes last year, the railway had to cancel around 80 percent of its long-distance transport services. The effects on regional transport varied greatly depending on the region. In some federal states there were almost no trains running anymore. Unless strike participation differs fundamentally, similar effects can now be expected.
The work stoppage at DB Cargo is scheduled to begin on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The GDL said that the railway company did not use the Christmas truce to counteract industrial action with a negotiable offer.
DB Human Resources Director Martin Seiler explained that the strike was not only absolutely unnecessary, but also not legally permissible. “Because the train drivers’ union lost its ability to bargain by founding its temporary workers’ cooperative,” he explained. But the DB is willing to compromise. “It is now time to negotiate again. The GDL leadership has overreached, they must finally come to their senses,” demanded Seiler.
Weselsky has already warned of industrial action
In the ongoing collective bargaining dispute, the GDL had already gotten the green light from its members for indefinite strikes before Christmas. GDL boss Claus Weselsky had announced that travelers would have to expect longer labor disputes from January 8th.
GDL describes DB proposal as “poisoned”
The railway presented a new offer on Friday and declared that it wanted to prevent strikes. The GDL announced that the company’s announcement on January 5th was deliberately misleading. The new offer is insubstantial and poisonous.
As in the past, GDL boss Weselsky chose sharp words: “For the GDL, it is unbearable how far DB AG’s managers, financed by taxpayers’ money, have distanced themselves from the living and working conditions of their own employees and are now deliberately misleadingly pretending to be with them to approach the GDL generously with a ‘new offer’.” The DB board is also pursuing the tactic of “camouflaging, tricking, filling pockets” in this collective bargaining round.
Point of contention: Reduction in working hours
At the end of November, the GDL declared the talks with the railways to have failed. The biggest point of contention is the union’s demand for a reduction in working hours from 38 to 35 hours per week for shift workers with full wage compensation. The railway does not consider this to be feasible given the shortage of skilled workers. In addition, the GDL charges 555 euros more per month as well as an inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros.
In its press release, Deutsche Bahn called on the GDL to call off the strike and instead take the negotiation date proposed by the DB on January 10th. “Solutions can only be found at the negotiating table,” said DB Human Resources Director Seiler.