DB's headquarters: There is no end in sight to the wage dispute with trade unions. © Peter Kneffel / dpa
There is no end to the wage disputes between the railways and the unions. The train drivers' union GDL is now making new demands – and founding a cooperative.
Berlin – Deutsche Bahn has not yet ended the wage dispute with EVG, but the train drivers' union GDL is already making higher demands. Key points are 555 euros more money per month and an increase in allowances for shift work by 25 percent, the GDL announced on Monday. In addition, she pleads for a reduction in working hours from 38 to 35 hours per week for shift workers without a proportionate wage reduction and a tax-free inflation compensation premium of 3000 euros - regardless of whether for part-time or full-time employees. Furthermore, the union demands an employer's share of five percent for the company pension scheme, the introduction of the five-shift week for staff in shift work and a collective bargaining period of a maximum of twelve months.
GDL: Significant improvements required
"There is a need for a significant improvement in the material and immaterial working and living conditions of railway workers as soon as possible," said GDL boss Claus Weselsky. This applies "above all in the direct area and in the irregular shift systems" so that rail transport in Germany can become sustainable again and the railway companies (RU) and railway infrastructure companies (EIU) can attract sufficient skilled workers again. Some time ago, Weselsky spoke of a "smear theater" between Deutsche Bahn and EVG.
Unlike the rival railway and transport union (EVG), which has already largely paralyzed the state-owned company DB several times with warning strikes, the GDL is not allowed to call for industrial action for the time being. There is a peace obligation here until October. The EVG demands twelve percent more wages, but at least 650 euros a month more for a term of twelve months. The GDL is significantly smaller than the EVG, but is considered assertive and has already rubbed shoulders with the railway leadership in the past with many strikes.
Weselsky makes demands - and makes goat comparison
The five central demands of the GDL apply to five groups of employees - employees in network operation, network maintenance, vehicle maintenance, train crews and trainees. In this way, the GDL wants to take into account the problems in the rail transport market - such as the structural shortage of personnel and the current low attractiveness of the railway professions. To ensure that the transport turnaround does not remain just a pious wish, better living and working conditions for railway workers should no longer be lip service.
In addition, the GDL wants to set new standards with the founding of the cooperative "Fair Train e. G.". "In the future, railway workers will gradually take their fate into their own hands," Weselsky said. A company has been founded, "which offers fair conditions in the field of temporary employment of train drivers". This is necessary in order to make the railway professions more attractive for young people in times of a shortage of personnel and skilled workers. In the railway sector, there is the market leader Deutsche Bahn (DB), where its own employees are deliberately deprived of collective bargaining and social benefits, the GDL complained. "This has to stop, otherwise we will be able to keep goats on newly upgraded lines in Germany in a few years, because no one wants to work on the trains anymore," Weselsky explained. (REUTERS, lf)
