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Arbitration between railways and train drivers' union failed

2020-11-11T15:11:38.284Z


The train drivers' union GDL broke off negotiations with Deutsche Bahn. There is no threat of new strikes for the time being.


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Two railway guides in Cologne

Photo: Fredrik von Erichsen / picture-alliance / dpa

The attempt at arbitration between Deutsche Bahn and the Union of German Locomotive Drivers (GDL) has failed.

The arbitrator Matthias Platzeck (SPD) announced that the union had rejected his proposal.

"That is really more than regrettable. From my point of view we were close to the goal," said the former Brandenburg Prime Minister.

Bahn personnel director Martin Seiler called the union's actions "incomprehensible and irresponsible".

There is no threat of strikes for the time being because the collective agreement with the GDL is still in force until the end of February.

Until then, the duty of peace applies - even if the arbitration procedure fails.

According to Seiler, the arbitration procedure is "not an early regular collective bargaining round, but a special situation caused by Corona".

"Railway employees deserve more than clapping from balconies"

The pandemic brought heavy losses in sales to Deutsche Bahn.

By July, the state-owned company posted a loss of 3.7 billion euros, the largest in its history. The federal government wants to support the company with an equity increase of five billion euros.

But the group should also save itself - around two billion euros in personnel.

The GDL entered the negotiations with a demand for 4.8 percent more wages.

GDL boss Claus Weselsky said a few weeks ago about the demands that railway employees had earned more "than clapping from balconies and in the end recurring fairy tales on the part of management that everything would get better."

The federally owned group had already agreed several weeks ago with the railway and transport union (EVG) on a new collective bargaining agreement with wage and salary increases that were well below the demands made by the GDL.

Compulsory redundancies are excluded until the end of the term at the end of February 2023.

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hej / dpa

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2020-11-11

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