As of: 08/30/2021 6:59 p.m.
Rail travelers need strong nerves again: In the labor dispute with Deutsche Bahn, the GDL has announced new strikes. First it affects freight traffic, then from Thursday until September 7th passenger traffic.
The union of German locomotive drivers (GDL) will strike again: From Wednesday 5:00 p.m. the freight traffic will be on strike. On Thursday night, from 02:00 a.m. onwards, passenger traffic is also expected to be largely paralyzed.
The standstills are expected to last until September 7th. “It is one of the longest industrial action that we carry out and that on purpose,” said GDL boss Claus Weselsky at a press conference. The union sees itself forced to the new strike because the railway has so far not submitted an offer “that works with numbers, data and facts”. Open-ended strikes are currently not an option.
Already two strikes in the past few weeks
What is now the third strike will hit hundreds of thousands of commuters as well as numerous travelers. The holiday season is running, and there are still school holidays in several federal states. The most recent strike ended on Wednesday night last week. The train responded with emergency timetables. In long-distance traffic, up to 30 percent of the offer could be maintained, in regional traffic including the S-Bahn it was an average of 40 percent. The day after the previous strikes, traffic was largely normal again.
“GDL top is all about power”
The railway is now trying again to alleviate the consequences. Travelers could use tickets flexibly for the strike period and move forward or postpone their trips until September 17, the company said. A refund is also possible. The labor dispute could not be justified by anything: “The GDL top is only concerned with expanding their power – and at the expense of travelers and the economy,” said personnel manager Martin Seiler.
The passenger association Pro Bahn said the union is damaging the reputation of the railways and the targeted traffic turnaround. “There are certain rights in the Basic Law, but I have to deal with them very carefully,” said the honorary chairman of the association, Karl-Peter Naumann.
Markus Pfeiffer, HR, on the GDL press conference
tagesschau24 5:00 p.m., 8/30/2021
The GDL advocates higher pay and better working conditions for employees. She also wants to score points in the competition with the second rail union EVG. The union is calling for a wage increase of 1.4 percent in 2021 and 1.8 percent in 2022 as well as a corona bonus of 600 euros. Deutsche Bahn is willing to raise wages by this amount, but only later than requested by the union. The employer is also ready to talk about the Corona premium, albeit so far without a quoted offer. There is also a dispute over the upcoming reform of the company pension system.
Railway chief Richard Lutz had accused the GDL chairman Weselsky at the weekend of splitting the workforce with false claims. There is no rapprochement with management in sight.