Train drivers want to strike this week
The train drivers' union GDL plans to go on strike this week to emphasize its demands. Employees are to stop work for 20 hours.
The train drivers' union GDL wants to strike in the wage dispute with Deutsche Bahn from Wednesday evening. The strike is to last from 10 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Thursday, the GDL announced. "The displeasure of the employees is great, their concerns are legitimate," said GDL chairman Claus Weselsky, explaining the strike call for the train drivers, train attendants, dispatchers and members of other professional groups organized in the union. "Now is the time to achieve improvements, there can be no delay," he emphasized. Deutsche Bahn sharply criticized the GDL's actions.
The wage negotiations between Deutsche Bahn and GDL began on Thursday. The GDL is demanding a wage increase of at least 555 euros for a collective bargaining period of one year as well as a 25 percent increase in bonuses for shift work. It also wants a 35-hour week for shift workers with full wage compensation and tax-free inflation payments of 3,000 euros.
The company is offering an eleven percent wage increase and an inflation bonus of up to 2850 euros for a term of 32 months. The reduction in working hours with full wage compensation demanded by the GDL was rejected by the company as unachievable. GDL boss Claus Weselsky, on the other hand, emphasized that this was "non-negotiable".
In the second round of collective bargaining for employees in federal states other than Hesse at the beginning of November, Ulrich Silberbach, head of the German Civil Service Association, did not rule out joint strikes with the GDL. The GDL is a member union of the civil servants' association. Verdi boss Frank Werneke announced "massive action" in the public sector wage dispute at the weekend ahead of the next negotiations on December 7 and 8.
The GDL's planned strike with German Railways is part of a collective bargaining dispute over wages and working conditions. The union is demanding significant wage increases, bonus adjustments, and a reduced workweek, which Deutsche Bahn has not been able to meet.
Source: www.ntv.de
