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Claus Weselsky (2021): Re-elected by 97 percent of the delegates
Photo: Thomas Lohnes / Getty Images
As chairman of the Union of German Locomotive Drivers (GDL), he is particularly present in public when his union has paralyzed rail traffic in Germany with strikes - and thus repeatedly antagonizes employers, politicians and rail customers.
Claus Weselsky will remain head of GDL for the next two years.
The GDL announced on Tuesday that 97 percent of the delegates at the General Assembly re-elected the 63-year-old.
Weselsky had extended his term of office by two years in order to lead the GDL "in the demanding period of organizational expansion triggered by the Collective Bargaining Act".
The executive board, which Weselsky chairs, was therefore expanded to four members by one deputy.
"By expanding our organizational area from train staff to include all direct personnel, we have taken on a demanding task," explained Weselsky.
Last year, the GDL concluded collective agreements for employees in workshops and in administration at Deutsche Bahn for the first time in addition to the train staff.
However, the contracts only come into effect if the GDL also has the most members in the respective company.
Criticism of Deutsche Bahn
The Collective Bargaining Act stipulates that in a company with two unions, only the collective agreement of the employee representative with the largest number of members is applied.
On the railways, the GDL competes with the railway and transport union (EVG) for members.
In his speech, he criticized that the Deutsche Bahn "leaves no stone unturned to weaken our strong GDL and thus undermine the rights of the railway workers".
The state-owned company would much rather “close cheap restructuring collective agreements” with its “loyal in-house union”.
tfb/dpa/Reuters