The fifth strike will be the longest. In November and December, the train drivers went on strike at Deutsche Bahn for one day each, followed by two strike days in mid-January and even five days at the end of January. The quarreling parties used February to negotiate – in vain.
March, with Easter travel, is likely to be a difficult month for rail passengers. GDL chairman Claus Weselsky will explain what the train drivers’ union (GDL) plans to do after the failure of negotiations last Thursday in Berlin this Monday. The crisis of social partnership at the railway is coming to a head.
At the end of January, the GDL called off the five-day strike after interventions from politicians and the civil service association, to which the GDL belongs. Negotiations followed. The parties agreed to a peace obligation by March 3rd. Since March 4th, the union has been able to call on its members to strike again.
The relationship between the collective bargaining partners is broken. Weselsky accuses the railway personnel director Martin Seiler of “camouflaging, tricking, filling pockets”. Seiler, in turn, complains about the union’s “dogmatic” stubbornness; The GDL “didn’t move a single millimeter and let the negotiations collapse”. Despite attempts to mediate by two top politicians.
“We were prepared to take steps to reduce working hours that went far beyond our last offer,” said Seiler. However, the GDL insisted on the 35-hour week with full wage compensation and did not respond to the compromise suggestions made by moderators Thomas de Maizière and Daniel Günther.
The two CDU men know the complicated situation at the railway: The former Federal Minister de Maizière settled the collective bargaining dispute with the EVG, the railway and transport union, in 2023, and Günther, Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, acted as a mediator between the GDL and the railway in 2021 .
The GDL rejects the reduction in working hours offered by the railway by one hour to 37 hours per week from 2026 onwards because the railway only provides “driving staff” for this. Furthermore, working hours should only be allowed to be shortened if this is operationally possible, i.e. if there are enough workers available.
© dpa/Annette Riedl
“Here we are dealing with a label fraud,” says Weselsky. The union would like to tariff the following steps to reduce working hours for all shift workers: half an hour to 37.5 hours in 2025, one hour each in 2026 and 2027 and finally another half hour to 35 at the beginning of 2028.
Specifically, the GDL is calling for an increase in income by 240 euros on May 1st and by a further 180 euros in February 2025. The railway should also pay an inflation bonus of 3,000 euros. According to the GDL’s ideas, the new tariff would be valid for two years. The last offer from Deutsche Bahn provided for a term of the collective agreement of 32 months.
The management of DB AG always chooses what they like best at the moment. If it’s your own pockets, then any means is acceptable to fill them.
GDL boss Claus Weselsky
According to human resources manager Seiler, the railway has “made major concessions” and was prepared to agree on pay increases with fixed amounts that are comparable in amount to the EVG and public service agreements. The collective agreement agreed with the railway transport union EVG last August contains wage increases of 200 euros from December 2023 and 210 euros from August 2024.
35 hours with other companies
In recent weeks, the GDL has concluded new collective agreements with 28 rail transport companies, all of which are smaller competitors of the railway in regional transport, and has also agreed to reduce working hours. In most cases, working hours will be reduced by three to 35 hours in several steps by 2029 and with full wage compensation. Most recently, the union agreed with the Hessian Cantus transport company, in addition to the reduction in working hours, on a wage increase of 210 euros each on July 1, 2024 and April 1, 2025, as well as a simultaneous increase in allowances of five percent.
Seiler had criticized the agreements with the other railways as a PR stunt because they contained a clause: reductions in working hours would only be implemented if the GDL also agreed on a corresponding regulation with the industry leader, Deutsche Bahn. Weselsky responded with personal accusations: “The management of DB AG always chooses what they like best at the moment. If it’s your own pockets, then any means is acceptable to fill them. If the income of people in the value-adding sector is affected, the company is sick and austerity measures are declared.”
Arbitration has practically already been exhausted
The verbal attacks are now likely to be followed by a labor dispute. There is no way out of the current tariff situation in sight.
The chairman of the Pro Bahn passenger association, Detlef Neuß, brought arbitration into play. But Weselsky and Seiler have already been negotiating in secret and with a duty of peace for weeks – most recently under the guidance of a sitting prime minister and a former interior minister. This corresponds to the nature of arbitration.
In addition to the massive disruption to everyday life for large parts of the population, those responsible should remember that there is war in Europe. This tariff dispute must not become a security risk.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) on the tariff dispute at the railway
After a successful strike vote shortly before Christmas, the GDL could also go on strike indefinitely to enforce its demands. The last time there was such a forced strike was at Deutsche Bahn in 1992. The unions disrupted train traffic for eleven days. However, at that time many railway workers were still civil servants. Today the impact of a week-long strike would be greater.
At the weekend, Transport Minister Volker Wissing appealed to Weselsky’s political responsibility to prevent such a scenario. “In addition to the massive disruption to everyday life for large parts of the population, those responsible should remember that there is war in Europe. This wage dispute must not become a security risk,” Wissing told “Bild am Sonntag”.
What the FDP politician is referring to: War goods are also brought to Ukraine via the railway. A common solution must be found for this problem, added Wissing. It seems like an almost desperate attempt to bring Weselsky and Seiler to reason.