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Railway boss Richard Lutz
Photo: Soeren Stache / DPA
Rail boss Richard Lutz and his two board colleagues Ronald Pofalla (network) and Berthold Huber (passenger transport) are to receive ten percent more money from 2023.
As part of his contract extension, Lutz will then receive a fixed salary of 990,000 euros instead of the 900,000 euros previously paid.
At Huber and Pofalla, the fixed remuneration increases from 650,000 euros to 715,000 euros.
According to SPIEGEL information, the supervisory board should decide this next week with the votes of the employee representatives.
On the other hand, there is a dispute in the supervisory body about the variable remuneration of managers.
The seven corporate board members will voluntarily forego the previously generous surcharges this year, but not the almost 70 board members from the corporate divisions.
The employee representatives on the supervisory board want to stop the payment of this additional remuneration.
In the workforce, the salaries of the top staff cause displeasure.
Because the railway management and the largest trade union at the railway, the EVG, had decided only meager wage increases of 1.5 percent from 2022 for employees due to the high losses caused by Corona.
The rival trade union GDL, which boycotted this agreement, denounced the salaries of the executives.
The GDL recently asked for significantly more money for its members.
The background is a dispute between EVG and GDL as well as the railroad management over the consequences of the collective bargaining law for the group.
On Thursday, the Deutsche Bahn's Chief Human Resources Officer, Martin Seiler, announced which Deutsche Bahn operations are mostly represented by EVG and which by GDL.
According to the new law, it depends on who negotiates the collective agreements.
That is 55 companies for EVG and 16. From April 1st, Deutsche Bahn announced that it will pay the members of the two unions differently.
Big investments, big losses
The dispute threatens to escalate, regardless of the economic situation of the railway.
This has deteriorated drastically due to the corona crisis.
The group is heading towards a debt of 35 billion euros.
The number of passengers is currently only around 20 percent.
At the instruction of the owner, the federal government, the railway has hardly reduced its offer and is producing such high losses.
Investments in new trains or the construction and renovation of tracks have not been reduced, but increased.
This year, 13 billion euros are to be invested.
In June, the railway plans to start operating the so-called XXL-ICE, which with 13 wagons will be the longest high-speed train in the group.
50 copies have been ordered.
The group did not want to comment on the salary increases of its board members in response to a request from SPIEGEL.
A spokesman referred to the supervisory board meeting next week, which one does not want to anticipate.
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