There is no solution in sight to the tariff dispute between Deutsche Bahn and GDL. But there are signs of something different: If this collective bargaining dispute is over, the right to strike in Germany could be tightened.
The rulings of the Frankfurt Labor Court and the Hessian State Labor Court initially represent a victory for GDL boss Claus Weselsky. The railway had tried to have the current strike stopped by legal action at the last moment. But she failed before both instances.
In the long term, Weselsky, who will soon be retiring, could be remembered as the one who triggered a tightening of the right to strike. Given the intransigent attitude of the GDL boss and the major impact of strikes on a critical infrastructure company such as the railway, calls for new legal rules for strikes in such companies are increasing.
Transport Minister Volker Wissing also made it clear that politicians will probably take up this issue soon. It is clear that the federal government cannot interfere in an ongoing collective bargaining dispute by threatening to change the law, said the FDP politician ARD morning magazine. “But it is also clear that we will look at this very closely. Once this collective bargaining dispute is resolved, we will have to examine whether we need a change or not.”
Pro Bahn: “Create new rules for critical infrastructure”
Demands for a tightening of the right to strike come from politics, from passenger associations and, above all, from business. There is talk, for example, that strikes at the railways and similar companies always have to be announced with a certain amount of advance notice or that they are only permitted after a failed arbitration. “We have to create new rules for the critical and no alternative infrastructure in Germany,” said the honorary chairman of the Pro Bahn passenger association, Karl-Peter Naumann.
Steffen Kampeter, General Manager of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations, called for “an industrial dispute law that provides for appropriate notice periods, arbitration regulations and cooling-off periods, especially for the infrastructure.” Weselsky acted without consideration and disproportionately. This is “an abuse of industrial action law that should no longer be accepted by the legislature.”
CDU: “In Germany a pure judge’s right”
The Association of Catholic Entrepreneurs said: “After more than 30 years, it is now finally time to honor the unification agreement and pass a federal law to regulate the right to strike, which was previously based exclusively on excessive judicial law.”
The chairwoman of the SME and Economic Union, Gitta Connemann, made a similar statement. “The right to strike must be regulated by law. At the moment, the right to strike in Germany is purely a judge’s right – unlike in other European countries where there is a real written right to strike,” said the CDU politician rbb24 information radio.
In fact, there is no strike law in Germany, as labor lawyer Lena Rudkowski from the University of Giessen also points out in tagesschau.de-Interview. However, the unions’ right to strike, which is enshrined in the Basic Law, is already restricted by the rights of third parties. As an example, she cites an “emergency service obligation” such as that which applies to hospitals, for example.
“Wave strikes” are intended to make emergency timetables impossible
With the current “wave strikes”, which are not announced in advance, Weselsky expressly wants to make it impossible for the railway to develop an emergency timetable on strike days. That is one of the reasons why criticism of him has recently increased again.
The core of the collective bargaining dispute is and remains weekly working hours. The GDL is calling for a reduction from 38 to 35 hours. Weselsky had recently tried to focus on other points of contention – such as vacation regulations or the term of the collective agreement. But in fact it was he himself who had repeatedly declared the 35-hour week to be the sticking point in the negotiations – most recently with the symbolic 35-hour strike, “so that everyone in the Republic realizes what we’re talking about: namely the 35 -hour week,” says Weselsky.
Agreement with rail competitors only with reservations
On this point, the railway – unlike the GDL – has moved since the beginning of the tariff dispute. She was prepared to accept the suggestion of the moderation process – a kind of informal preliminary stage of conciliation – as a basis for further negotiations. He envisaged a reduction in working hours in two stages to 36 hours. However, Weselsky rejected this.
The GDL has already agreed on the introduction of a 35-hour week with competitors of the railway – such as Transdev, the second largest railway company in Germany. However, this is subject to the condition that Deutsche Bahn also agrees to such a reduction in working hours in its negotiations with the GDL. This is probably a key reason why Weselsky does not back down from this maximum requirement.
Industry association: Had no other choice
The industry association Mofair, in which the railway’s competitors in passenger transport are organized, said it had no choice but to accept the GDL’s demands. The 35-hour week is the wrong way to address the industry’s labor shortage; it “drastically exacerbates the existing shortage in the short and medium term,” the association said. But every day of strike means “economic damage that they can only bear for a few days.” The railway’s competitors are squeezed between the market power of the GDL and the lack of support from the clients – in the case of the railway’s competitors, these are usually the federal states.
“Tariff dispute ends with compromise or not at all”
Transport Minister Wissing now once again appealed to the GDL boss to enter into a formal arbitration procedure. “If negotiations are obviously no longer working because a negotiating partner is no longer sitting at the table, then the formal arbitration procedure is a good way,” said Wissing ARD morning magazine. The railway had agreed to such an arbitration, but the GDL has so far rejected it.
Wissing also appealed to the GDL boss’s sense of responsibility: “I find it regrettable that a railway worker like Mr. Weselsky is doing so much damage to the rail system.” You can’t say you’re on strike, but you’re not negotiating. In the end, everyone must know that a collective bargaining dispute ends “with a compromise or not at all.”
Torben Ostermann, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, March 12, 2024 12:12 p.m