Rail wage dispute: first warning strike, then Christmas truce

Traffic - Rail wage dispute: first warning strike, then Christmas truce

For rail passengers, these are once again painful times: First, no trains ran for days in the greater Munich area due to the onset of winter. Now the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) is once again paralyzing large parts of long-distance, regional and freight transport with a warning strike. On Thursday evening, the strike in freight transport began at 6.00 pm, as confirmed by a Deutsche Bahn spokesperson.

Four hours later, passenger services were also to go on strike for 24 hours. The first long-distance connections were already removed from the service early on Thursday evening - this is the only way the company can guarantee that no one will have to spend the night on open routes.

Deutsche Bahn intends to maintain around 20 percent of its long-distance services during the warning strike. The impact on regional services will vary greatly. In Bavaria, which is still affected by the snow chaos, virtually nothing is likely to run. In the north-west of the country in particular, where the GDL is traditionally less strongly represented, passengers could be less affected.

However, Thursday also brought good news for rail passengers: the current warning strike is the last one on the railroads this year. GDL boss Claus Weselsky has ruled out further industrial action up to and including January 7. This means that the long-awaited Christmas truce, which Deutsche Bahn had been calling for even before the wage dispute began at the start of November, will finally be achieved. After that, however, anything is possible again. The strikes in the new year will be "longer and more intense", said Weselsky on Bayerischer Rundfunk radio.

Long tailbacks expected in freight traffic

While passenger transport will in all likelihood largely return to normal on Saturday, the effects on freight transport are likely to be felt beyond the weekend. Even in the days before the warning strike, hundreds of freight trains were jammed due to the heavy snowfall in Bavaria, according to the railroad company. The industrial action is likely to increase the chaos.

Not only Deutsche Bahn is affected by the warning strike, its competitor Transdev is also on strike by the GDL. The union has since declared both collective bargaining negotiations to have failed. The main sticking point in both cases is the GDL's demand for a reduction in weekly working hours for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours with full pay compensation. The employers have so far rejected this.

"The companies are not only ignoring the legitimate needs of their own employees," said Weselsky on Wednesday. "They are also torpedoing the urgently needed measures for successful recruitment and are thus negligently jeopardizing the future of the most climate-friendly means of transport, the railroad."

With the industrial action, the GDL is putting pressure on Deutsche Bahn shortly before the so-called major timetable change this Sunday. This actually provides for numerous new long-distance and regional connections and an increase in the train fleet. However, before new trains can be put on the rails, Deutsche Bahn will first have to reschedule numerous services. From Thursday up to and including Sunday, a different timetable will apply every day due to the warning strike - constant stress for the employees in the control centers. Until the start of the new timetable, however, the effects of the strike on passenger services will in all probability no longer be an issue.

Longer industrial action looms in January

Union members are currently voting in a ballot on indefinite strikes. The result is expected on December 19. According to Weselsky, he expects 90 percent of members to vote in favor. More than 75 percent are required for the GDL to call for such industrial action. The members must approve the measure, as strikes can be expensive for them. The union's strike pay usually only compensates for part of the wage and salary losses that employees may incur during industrial action.

There is currently no way out of the collective bargaining misery. It has been around two weeks since the GDL broke off negotiations at Deutsche Bahn. According to reports, there has not been much talk since then. The fronts have hardened, particularly when it comes to reducing working hours. The GDL also wants to extend its sphere of influence and conclude collective agreements with Deutsche Bahn for the employees of infrastructure subsidiary DB Netz. Deutsche Bahn rejects this and refers to the existing collective agreements with the larger rail and transport union (EVG).