As of: January 24, 2024, 6:00 a.m
By: Bjarne Kommnick
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Another strike at Deutsche Bahn.
A train attendant and GDL member explains how he experiences the current situation and how people react.
Munich - Deutsche Bahn passengers will have to prepare for significant timetable restrictions in the coming days: the new strike by the train drivers' union (GDL) is set to last for at least six days.
From Wednesday to Monday, the majority of all members stop their work - including many train attendants, such as Maximilian Helmschmied, train attendant and GDL district youth leader for Central Germany.
In an interview with
watson.de
on January 22nd, he describes how he is currently experiencing the current situation in his role.
Train attendant on passengers in the train strike: “Mostly those who are affected are against it”
According to Helmschmied, passengers' reactions to the recurring strikes at Deutsche Bahn were divided.
According to this, many rail travelers understand the strikes: “In my everyday working life, it is not the case that I am insulted,” says Helmschmied.
However, on the other hand, many passengers would not be able to understand the employees' industrial action: “It's so balanced.
Most of the time, those who are currently affected are against it.”
Many train attendants are currently joining the GDL train strikes.
© Andreas Arnold/dpa
In general, the train attendant “as a customer advisor naturally understands the passengers,” Helmschmied told
watson.de
.
“I then try to respond to the passengers and explain the situation.”
He would take on board the customers' frustration, "but personally I can't change it: we have a shortage of skilled workers."
Shortage of skilled workers at Deutsche Bahn: personnel situation is becoming a “core risk”
This shortage of skilled workers in train transport is nothing new.
As early as 2022, Deutsche Bahn published a report showing that the personnel situation was becoming a “core risk” for Deutsche Bahn’s business.
The group therefore has a high annual need for new hires, which is increased by the age-related departure of many employees and by the collectively agreed election model.
That's why those responsible at Deutsche Bahn wanted to hire around 25,000 new employees last year alone, as
tagesschau.de
reports.
A request from
IPPEN.MEDIA
on January 23rd as to how many new hires there actually were at Deutsche Bahn in 2023 has so far remained unanswered.
Reactions to the rail strike: Bonus payments to the Deutsche Bahn board are a thorn in the side of customers
However, one topic that would particularly bother passengers is the bonus payments to the board of directors of Deutsche Bahn.
“As a train attendant, I am asked how it can be that millions are paid out to the board, but the trains stop here because the employees are on strike.
There is no money for that.
And neither I nor the travelers have any understanding for that,” explains Helmschmied.
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As research by NDR, WDR and the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
showed, the board members of Deutsche Bahn are to receive bonus payments of 5 million euros.
The legal basis for the payment is that the railway board has met its self-imposed goals in some areas.
Marion Jungbluth, head of the mobility and travel team at the consumer advice center, explained to IPPEN.MEDIA at the end of 2023: “If the supervisory board does not manage to stop the payout, the board members should voluntarily waive the bonuses.”
Consumer advice center calls on Deutsche Bahn board to voluntarily forego bonus payments
Train attendant Helmschmied describes the rail strike, which could also have an impact on the industry, as “consequential” and refers in particular to the negotiations between Deutsche Bahn and GDL and “what offers the employer is making.”
For Helmschmied, the employers’ lack of willingness is “of course a slap in the face”.
Accordingly, the union would communicate to employees that Deutsche Bahn allows little negotiation: “It's not that we're not upset about it.
“Everything could be easier, also from the employees’ point of view, but apparently that’s not what we want,” said the train attendant and GDL district youth leader.
Deutsche Bahn makes a new offer before the strike – GDL rejects it as a “sham offer”.
The company recently made an offer to the union that includes up to 13 percent more wages and should enable employees with the same salary to reduce their working week to 37 hours as of January 1, 2026.
This emerges from a press release from Deutsche Bahn on January 19th.
“There is absolutely no reason to refuse to talk anymore.
The GDL must now face its responsibility and dare to negotiate more,” explained DB Human Resources Director Martin Seiler.
However, the GDL rejected the offer as a “sham offer”.
“Everything could be easier”: Train attendant works over 150 hours of overtime in just one year
There are many from train attendant Helmschmied's circle of friends who support the strike and "also see the work behind it and see the responsibility in comparison to the pay" behind his job as a train attendant.
Helmschmied is alluding to a “very irregular” shift that would usually last ten to eleven hours.
Last year alone he would have worked more than 150 hours of overtime, i.e. almost a full month more than his contract would have stipulated.
That's why many of his friends would understand the demand as a 35-hour week.
Because his train attendant colleagues “don’t just do it for five or six years – there are colleagues who have been doing it for 40 years and some of them show it,” says Helmschmied.
(bk)