Train strike: EVG wants to paralyze train traffic from Sunday evening NDR.de – News

Status: 05/12/2023 06:15 a.m

Train passengers have to prepare for the longest strike so far in this year’s wage conflict: the railway and transport union (EVG) wants to paralyze all rail traffic nationwide from Sunday evening 10 p.m. to Tuesday night midnight.

The third and, at 50 hours, longest warning strike in the collective bargaining round is intended to affect Deutsche Bahn, but also almost all of the around 50 other rail providers. In long-distance, regional and freight traffic on the rails, nothing should work anymore, as the union EVG announced. Deutsche Bahn announced that it would completely stop long-distance traffic for the two days. All ICE and IC trains will then remain in the depots, and even in regional transport “mostly no trains will run during the strike,” said a spokesman.

EVG: No movement at negotiating tables

The union justified the warning strike with the stalled talks that have been going on for more than two months. In the negotiations, the union wants to get at least 650 euros more per month for the employees or twelve percent for the upper income earners over a period of twelve months. Deutsche Bahn, on the other hand, wants to be guided by the conclusion of the public service, which was achieved at the end of April.

“We will therefore once again clearly signal that the existing offers have to be significantly improved,” said Cosima Ingenschay, board member for collective bargaining. “Since little is happening at the negotiating tables, there will be another strike.” The strike hits Hamburg particularly hard, because the one-week Whitsun holidays start there at the weekend.

Strike could still be averted

However, Ingenschay admitted that the strike could still be averted. In addition, the chief negotiator at Deutsche Bahn, Martin Sailer, should clarify by Friday evening whether the salary increases in the lower wage brackets should be capped at 13 euros. From the point of view of the union, the communication in this regard was not clear enough.

Already the third warning strike

Collective bargaining in the railway sector has been going on since the end of February. It is the third nationwide warning strike that the EVG has called for since then. In March, together with the service union ver.di, they paralyzed large parts of public transport, including most airports, for a day. The second break in April was limited to a period of eight hours, but also caused many failures, especially in long-distance traffic.

Deutsche Bahn sharply criticized the strike. “This insane strike is completely unreasonable and completely exaggerated,” said HR Director Martin Seiler. Instead of looking for compromises, the EVG wanted to “paralyze the country for an unbelievable 50 hours”. This is a full strike without ballot and millions of travelers are affected. The railways agreed to extensive goodwill arrangements for those affected: “All passengers who want to postpone their trip planned for May 14th to 16th due to the EVG strike can now flexibly use their long-distance ticket booked up to and including May 11th up to and including Sunday evening use,” said the railway.

Bahn pays bonuses to thousands of executives

A media report is causing unrest in the midst of the collective bargaining conflict, according to which thousands of Deutsche Bahn executives received bonuses at the end of April that add up to at least a three-digit million amount. The bonuses were paid to 30,000 employees, including around 3,800 managers, reported NDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Wednesday evening.

Further information


The EVG trade union has again called for a nationwide strike starting this Sunday. What rights do rail customers have? more

Travelers are waiting for their train in the main station in Hamburg.  © Bodo Marks/dpa

The trains will stand still for 50 hours from Sunday evening. The warning strike falls this time during the Hamburg Pentecost holidays. more

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NDR Info | Current | 05/11/2023 | 10:00 a.m

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