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Train drivers’ strike to hit Wednesday, Thursday

Train drivers will return to the picket lines on Tuesday afternoon after negotiations with rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) collapsed on Friday. Passenger services will be hit on Wednesday and Thursday.

Published: 21 April 2015 08:17 CEST

Train drivers' strike to hit Wednesday, Thursday

Train drivers' union (GDL) leader Claus Weselsky (l) on a picket line in March. Photo: DPA

Tuesday will see freight train drivers stop working at 3 pm in a walkout planned to last until 9 am on Friday.

Meanwhile, passenger services will be hit by the fresh round of strikes from 2 am on Wednesday until 9 pm on Thursday.

Train Drivers' Union (GDL) leader Claus Weselsky told the Passauer Neue Presse that drivers were striking for the first time since November because “the management apparently doesn't want to reach a result” in negotiations over pay, working hours and union representation.

The talks had failed to produce answers to the main questions in 16 rounds of meetings, he added, giving the example of setting limits on overtime.

SEE ALSO: What the train drivers' strike is all about

DB human resources head Ulrich Weber said that “the GDL could have had its hoped-for interim result on almost all points” before negotiations broke down last week.

The rail company's freight arm said the strike would seriously reduce its service, while the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) called them a “poison for Germany as a location for business”.

DIHK chief economist Alexander Schumann pointed out that around a million tonnes of goods are transported by train every day in Germany, meaning that production delays can be expected after just a few days of strikes.

But Weselsky rejected the idea that mediation could prevent the walkout.

“DB demands that we be ready to make compromises. But they aren't ready to do the same. In these conditions we won't go into a mediation,” he said.

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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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