Rail and trade union: meeting for second round of negotiations
The wage negotiations between the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn will enter their second round in Berlin on Thursday (11.00 a.m.). Following the initial talks at the beginning of November and the first warning strikes last week, both sides are still a long way from reaching an agreement. The GDL is already looking ahead to the next industrial action.
"The next warning strike is sure to come. We won't take too long," GDL boss Claus Weselsky recently told the Rheinische Post newspaper. The union has already initiated a ballot on indefinite strikes among its own members.
Among other things, the GDL is demanding an increase of 555 euros per month and an inflation compensation bonus for a period of twelve months. In the first round of negotiations, Deutsche Bahn presented the union with an offer, which included the prospect of an eleven percent pay increase over a period of 32 months.
However, the crux of the wage dispute is the GDL's demand for a reduction in working hours from 38 to 35 hours for shift workers with full pay compensation. The company had not yet included this in its offer. Martin Seiler, member of the Deutsche Bahn Board of Management for Human Resources, considers the demand to be unrealizable. From the point of view of the federally owned railroad company, it would create a personnel gap that could not be closed in view of the severe labor shortage.
Weselsky has also admitted that a reduction in working hours cannot be implemented overnight and has signaled a willingness to compromise. He emphasized that the reduction in weekly working hours could be implemented gradually over a longer period of time. However, it is unlikely that an agreement will be reached without a regulation on working hours. The GDL has explicitly linked the success of negotiations to this point. The union is also insisting on this in the wage negotiations with rail competitor Transdev.
The negotiations are also being made more difficult by the fact that the GDL wants to extend its sphere of influence at Deutsche Bahn. For the first time, the infrastructure division is to be included in the union's wage agreement. This includes, for example, the service managers who are responsible for coordinating nationwide train services and for whom only the larger Railway and Transport Union (EVG), which competes with the GDL, has negotiated to date. So far, Deutsche Bahn has also rejected this.
The issue of working hours has already been the subject of a collective bargaining dispute between Deutsche Bahn and GDL. In 2016, both sides agreed on a choice model for employees, which has been in place at Deutsche Bahn since 2018. Employees can choose between more money, six days of additional vacation or a reduction in weekly working hours from 39 to 38 hours. Further options were added in January 2021, including up to twelve days more vacation.
The ongoing wage negotiations between the GDL and Deutsche Bahn could potentially lead to disruptions in rail traffic due to planned strikes. The GDL is also pushing for tariff adjustments, aiming to include the infrastructure division in their wage agreement, a demand that Deutsche Bahn has yet to accept.
Source: www.dpa.com
