Deutsche Bahn and its customers are annoyed by the small trade union GDL.
A labor lawyer explains how this could happen and what solution is in the making.
Berlin - According to the Freiburg labor lawyer Manfred Löwisch, the messy situation in the wage dispute at the railway can only be resolved if all three parties involved in the conflict get together.
He explains what, in his opinion, the current situation must inevitably lead to.
The Unified Collective Bargaining Act (TEG) was created to curb strikes by branch unions. Doesn't the current conflict show that it is an unsuitable, if not counterproductive, law?
Manfred Löwisch:
The law on collective bargaining does not stand in the way of the GDL's intention to conclude a collective agreement for all professional groups.
A union determines the collective bargaining competence in its statutes.
The Federal Labor Court has ruled that the tariff capacity is indivisible.
Only to say that you represent only a few, so you are not allowed to conclude, is not possible.
As a result, the TEG cannot prevent this.
The Federal Constitutional Court again decided that the right to strike is not affected by the TEG.
It has probably been speculated that people are not interested in a labor dispute because their collective agreement ends up being thrown out by the TEG.
GDL: Revision clause proves to be a problem for Deutsche Bahn
Then why is the GDL on strike?
Löwisch:
Of all people, employers and EVG have defied this speculation by agreeing a revision clause in their collective bargaining agreement.
If the GDL concludes a collective agreement in which there is more than the EVG has achieved, the EVG can terminate the contract.
This will then be renegotiated and the difference in volume between the two contracts will also be credited to the EVG.
The GDL can thus assert itself and thus act for the EVG at the same time.
So the GDL has something from their labor dispute.
Can this conflict be resolved through negotiation at all, if the GDL sticks to its claim to representation?
Löwisch:
The conflict can only be resolved if all three sides sit down at the table.
There are similar relationships in the hospital sector with the Marburger Bund and Verdi.
They have come to terms there.
The Marburger Bund focuses on doctors and Verdi on hospital staff.
There was also such a collective bargaining agreement at Deutsche Bahn until 2002.
We have to come back to that.
GDL strike: legal framework can be optimized - common table as a solution
In this case, where is the line between a proportionate and a disproportionate strike?
Löwisch:
Mr Weselsky is smart when he ruled out an unlimited strike.
Unlimited strikes can lead to disproportionality if the minimum supply of transport services is no longer guaranteed.
We are still a long way from that.
But if the strikes have still not ended in the coming year, the industrial action will eventually approach the borderline.
What would a better legal framework for such tariff constellations look like?
Löwisch:
One could think of an addition to the TEG in the form of a request to the parties to the collective bargaining agreement that they should look for a solution together at the negotiating table.
Then there would at least be a certain public pressure not to evade discussions.
If nothing happens then, the Ministry of Labor or someone else could invite them for talks.
This is provided for in the Baden State Arbitration Ordinance, for example.
Tariff strike at Deutsche Bahn: What the scenario allegedly boils down to
How do you anticipate the further course of the conflict?
Löwisch: At
the end of the day, it comes down to the Deutsche Bahn entering into fairly concrete negotiations with the GDL.
This results in a result that goes beyond the EVG, for example with a corona bonus or a shorter term of the contract.
The railway will growl and approve the same of the EVG.
Unless you agree otherwise beforehand.
But that is not to be expected.
The railway has no choice but to add something specifically.
Before the strike in the rail passenger traffic, the head of the largest rail union EVG, Klaus-Dieter Hommel, painted a surprisingly gloomy picture of the economic prospects of the state-owned company.
The interview was conducted by Wolfgang Mulke
