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Train drivers strike again as wage battle wears on

Commuters were warned of massive delays and cancellations across Germany on Friday morning, as train drivers walked off their jobs in a bid to pressure employers in an ongoing wage dispute.

Published: 4 March 2011 08:49 CET

Train drivers strike again as wage battle wears on

Photo: DPA

Train drivers’ union GDL called the three-hour strike for long-haul and regional train routes between 8:30 am and 11:30 am. It was their third strike in two weeks.

“The GDL once again aims not affect work commuters, and to affect weekend travellers only a bit,” the union said.

As with their strike last Friday, GDL leaders also chose to spare the already struggling S-Bahn commuter train services in Berlin, which have been operating on a limited schedule.

Striking later in the day was a response to widespread anger by train passengers after the GDL’s first strike last week, which prevented many from making it to work on time.

Meanwhile organizer of the technology trade fair CeBIT in Hannover planned to bus international visitors from the airports in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Hamburg.

The GDL union has demanded wage increases for some 26,000 regional, long-haul and freight train drivers. They are hoping to get 105 percent of the current average wage at Deutsche Bahn. Many private train companies pay their drivers up to 30 percent less than Deutsche Bahn wage levels.

The union has threatened to shut down the nation’s railways if Deutsche Bahn and six other private train services fail to present an acceptable wage offer.

But on Friday national rail provider Deutsche Bahn called for the GDL to end strikes and return to wage negotiations on Monday, a demand that GDL leader Claus Weselsky rejected.

“The GDL has no strikes planned for the Karneval season, but Deutsche Bahn’s approach requires a clear answer,” he said.

Friday’s temporary strike is scheduled to be the last before the union counts member votes on Monday to decide whether to stage an indefinite strike.

DPA/ka

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German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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