Rail strike: EVG calls for wage negotiations – economy

The EVG union is calling on the railway company to negotiate. “With our offer of talks, it could be possible to break up the hardened fronts,” says negotiator Kristian Loroch. This raises the question of whether new rail strikes can still be avoided. The union rejected the company’s wage offer this week. After mutual reproaches about who was responsible for the standstill in the wage round, the EVG announced new warning strikes on Wednesday. However, these should not take place on the weekend, but on Monday at the earliest. “We have repeatedly shown that we are willing to compromise in the past negotiations, but we will not let our employer dictate a collective bargaining agreement,” says EVG negotiator Kristian Loroch. The readiness for further labor disputes is still high. It is not very effective if Deutsche Bahn declares that it does not want to continue negotiations. “In doing so, she maneuvered the negotiations into a dead end,” says Loroch. “We want to open the door for the employer and invite the top negotiators to a meeting with the collective bargaining boards of the EVG at short notice. We certainly see opportunities to find a basis for constructive negotiations. We want to talk about it calmly.” Group HR manager Martin Seiler said on Wednesday that negotiations currently make no sense because the union is not moving a millimeter from its original wage demand of twelve percent for one year. The EVG had requested a new offer from the railways before negotiating again. According to the group, his current offer of eight to twelve percent more wages depending on the salary class plus almost 3,000 euros inflation bonus for a total of two years is the highest he has ever done.

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