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Train delays at Essen Central Station (archive)
Photo: Lisa Ducret / dpa
Railway customers have to be prepared for difficult weeks.
The Union of German Locomotive Drivers (GDL) is pushing ahead with its strike plans.
The ballot in which the members decide on the labor dispute ends on Monday.
On Tuesday, GDL boss Claus Weselsky wants to present the result - and firmly expects an approval of more than 90 percent.
It is still unclear when the strike could start and whether it will start during the summer vacation.
"I am not aware of any limitation on how long a strike could last," replied Weselsky to "Welt am Sonntag" when asked about the possible duration of a strike. Already in 2014 and 2015 the GDL had an extremely tough wage dispute with the railway. At that time, the train drivers had carried out their strikes in eight increasing waves. The approaching renewed stoppages of the train drivers would be the first strike at the railways since December 2018, when the Railway and Transport Union (EVG) called on its members to take part in a labor dispute.
The collective bargaining round between the railway and the GDL has been stuck for months.
Both sides accuse each other of spreading untruths and having no interest in negotiations.
Among other things, the GDL is calling for wage increases such as those in the public sector of around 3.2 percent and a significant corona bonus in the current year.
Because of the pandemic, however, the railway wants to orient itself on the »emergency collective agreement« of the airports, which would spread a similar increase of 3.2 percent over a longer period and later stages, with a contract term of 40 months.
In addition, there would be benefits for old-age provision and the exclusion of redundancies for operational reasons.
Deutsche Bahn again called on the union to negotiate again;
Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer (CSU) urged the tariff parties to be prudent.
"Nobody really needs this strike now," said Martin Seiler, head of personnel at the state-owned railway company.
"Ultimately, this is an attack on the whole country." After the corona restrictions, many people are only now starting to travel again.
The "Bild am Sonntag" said Seiler, "in terms of content, there is zero point zero reason to strike."
Scheuer told the “Welt am Sonntag”, “Right now we need to be together”.
The corona time hit the railway hard.
According to the union's statutes, the votes of "75 percent of the employees entitled to vote involved in the strike vote" are required.
At that time, however, there was also the legal opinion that the approval rate had to be calculated based on the total number of members at the railway.
The union does not disclose how many of the 37,000 GDL members are in the service of Deutsche Bahn.
According to its own information, it represents a good 80 percent of the train drivers and 40 percent of the train attendants.
It is also trying to establish a larger base with dispatchers, train stations and railway workshops, and rivals the EVG in doing so.
The EVG had already signed a collective agreement with the railway last autumn.
This year there was a zero round, at the beginning of 2022 employees will receive 1.5 percent more money.
Terminations for operational reasons are excluded.
fdi / dpa