GDL strike ended: Railway set course for normal operations

The train drivers’ strike ended during the night. The railway now wants to return to regular operations as quickly as possible. But the never next stoppage is already looming.

The strike of the train drivers’ union GDL at Deutsche Bahn has ended. This is what representatives of both sides said after the scheduled end of the industrial action at 2:00 a.m. Today, the railway expects a largely normal operation in long-distance and regional traffic as well as on the S-Bahn. Before starting their journey, customers should nevertheless find out via the website, the app or by telephone whether their train is running as planned.

However, a solution to the collective bargaining conflict is still not in sight. There is disagreement about when employees should receive income increases. There is also a struggle for a possible corona premium and company pensions. The strike had started on Monday night in passenger traffic and in freight traffic on Saturday. A balance sheet from the GDL is still pending. It was her second labor dispute that month. Further strikes are possible.

Transport Minister Scheuer criticizes the strike

The GDL competes with the Railway and Transport Union (EVG) for members of the railway. Unlike the EVG, it does not want to accept a zero round this year. EVG chairman Klaus-Dieter Hommel has meanwhile called on Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) to stay out of the tariff conflict at the railways. It is true that the GDL is “only partially concerned with material demands, but rather with political goals,” says Hommel’s letter to the politician. “Nevertheless, we are convinced that this collective bargaining round must only be resolved by the negotiating partners themselves.” Scheuer had criticized the GDL strike and asked the union to return to the negotiating table.

GDL turned down the offer

Even if the situation for passengers at the stations should ease in the foreseeable future, there is still no convergence in sight in the tariff conflict between the railway and the GDL. Numerous employees also met yesterday at rallies in Cologne and Munich, among others, to draw attention to their demands.

The GDL and the railways are arguing in the collective bargaining dispute mainly about the term of the contract and the start of wage increases. The union is demanding, among other things, 3.2 percent more money and a corona bonus of 600 euros this year. The railway does not want to pay the wage increase immediately, but in two steps: 1.5 percent on January 1, 2022 and 1.7 percent on March 1, 2023, with a term until the end of June 2024. The GDL rejected this offer.

Power struggle with the EVG

in the ARD lunch magazine said GDL boss Claus Weselsky, the mood was in the basement, as the managers served themselves indecently and want to let the little railroad workers sit with bread and water. The railway board is responsible for this.

The GDL boss defended the rail strike, although the working atmosphere in the two competing unions of the railways, the railway and transport union (EVG) and GDL, continues to deteriorate. “We’re not turning things upside down, but here things are being turned upside down on purpose, just to discredit the GDL. And I have to turn against that.”

A power struggle between the GDL and the larger EVG has been simmering for some time. The train drivers’ union sees its influence at risk due to the law on collective bargaining. According to the law, only the collective agreements of the larger employee representation apply in companies with several unions. The chairman of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), Reiner Hoffmann, accused the GDL boss of wanting above all to ensure the survival of the GDL – it is in competition with the much larger DGB union EVG.