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Passengers at Berlin Central Station in front of a departing ICE
Photo: Christoph Soeder / dpa
Rail traffic in Germany has been stalling again since Saturday, the train drivers' union GDL had called another rail strike in the wage dispute with Deutsche Bahn.
An agreement between the parties to the dispute could now be pending - because Deutsche Bahn wants to avert further strikes with a corona bonus.
"With a corona bonus, we are responding to an important concern of the unions," said Human Resources Director Martin Seiler on Sunday.
According to Bahn, the money should be paid out for 2021.
Seiler did not name an amount.
"With that there can be no longer any reason to refuse to return to the negotiating table," he added.
"Now it's just up to the GDL."
The "Bild am Sonntag" had previously reported on it.
The railway wanted to take a "material step" towards the train drivers' union, the paper quoted from negotiating circles.
According to information from the newspaper, Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) had previously asked the negotiators of the railway to take a step towards the GDL.
Strike until Wednesday morning
The union has been on strike in freight traffic for the second time this month since Saturday, and the strike is to be extended to passenger traffic again on Monday.
The work stoppages are expected to end on Wednesday at 2:00 a.m.
The union of German locomotive drivers (GDL) had demanded, among other things, a corona bonus of 600 euros.
The points of contention in the collective bargaining dispute also include the increase in table wages and the duration of the collective agreement.
There is also a dispute about retirement provision.
It is the second wave of strikes in the current collective bargaining dispute between GDL and DB.
In addition to a corona bonus of 600 euros, the union is calling for a two-stage wage increase of 3.2 percent and better working conditions.
The railway offers 3.2 percent more wages, but wants to implement the levels later and a longer term.
mrc / dpa / AFP
