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STRIKES

German train drivers reach deal to end strikes

Deutsche Bahn and the train drivers' union GDL have agreed on a 3.3 percent pay increase for employees, spelling the end of a torturous round of strikes that had wreaked havoc on German railways.

Published: 16 September 2021 12:10 CEST
German train drivers reach deal to end strikes
A regional train pulls of of Oldenburg station in Lower Saxony on September 3rd, 2021. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Hauke-Christian Dittrich

In a Thursday press conference announcing the move, GDL union chief Claus Weselsky said the “compromise” deal was what train drivers had “earned”.

Pay will initially rise by 1.5 percent from December this year, followed by a further 1.8 percent on March 1st, 2023, both sides announced on Thursday.

READ ALSO: Are the German rail strikes going to end soon?

On December 1st, employees will get a Covid bonus of up to €600 in their pay-packets, with the exact amount depending on their wage bracket. On March 1st, 2022, Deutsch Bahn will also grant its employees a €400 bonus across the board. 

The agreement on wages is very similar to that set out by the GDL train driver’s union in its negotiations with Deutsche Bahn.

For months, it had been calling for 3.2 percent pay rise spread over 28 months, along with a €600 bonus to reward employees for working throughout the pandemic. 

In return, however, the GDL has agreed to the planned restructuring of the company pension scheme.

The current system of supplementary pensions will only be continued for existing employees from 2022, it said. For the first time, the GDL is concluding collective agreements not only for train crews but also for employees in workshops and in administration, but not for infrastructure.

‘Back on track’

Standing alongside the union boss, Martin Seiler, the personnel director of the rail company Deutsche Bahn, said: “This agreement puts us back on track for a strong future.”

The union began its walkout on August 10th after members voted overwhelmingly in favour in an internal ballot.


DB Personnel Director Martin Seiler and GDL chairman Claus Weselsky shake hands on their newly agreed deal at a press conference held on September 16th, 2021. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Kay Nietfeld

During three rounds of strikes, the longest of which lasted five days, passenger and cargo services were disrupted across Germany, adding to supply-chain woes for businesses and causing headaches for holiday-makers.

READ ALSO: German rail chaos continues after two failed attempts to prevent strikes

The agreement also resolved differences over the status of the train drivers’ union within Deutsche Bahn itself. GDL was set to lose out to other unions after rules came into force earlier this year which stipulated that the collective deal negotiated by the biggest union applies across the sector.

The last major conflict between unions and Deutsche Bahn took place between 2014-2015, when over nine months, GDL organised nine rounds of strikes to demand regulatory reforms.

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
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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