As of: January 24, 2024, 11:01 a.m
By: Patrick Mayer
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Tübingen's mayor Boris Palmer sharply criticizes the fact that the German Locomotive Drivers' Union (GDL) is on strike for six days.
On Facebook he rails against Claus Weselsky.
Tübingen - It's that time again: On Tuesday evening (January 23rd) the strike by the train drivers' union GDL in the freight transport of Deutsche Bahn (DB) began.
From Wednesday it will also be uncomfortable for passengers, and most of DB's local and long-distance transport will come to a standstill across Germany until Monday (January 29th).
GDL strike at Deutsche Bahn: Boris Palmer harshly criticizes Claus Weselsky
In particular, the railway announced “a greatly reduced range of train journeys in regional transport during the GDL strike”.
In previous strikes, only a fifth of the long-distance trains originally planned ran.
In metropolitan regions such as Munich, the S-Bahn services are also severely affected, which poses immense challenges for hundreds of thousands of commuters in and around the Bavarian capital.
The fact that train drivers in Germany are now on strike again for six days prompted Tübingen's mayor Boris Palmer (independent) to post a real angry post on Facebook.
The former Green Party politician, who has often polarized himself in the past, accused the GDL federal chairman Claus Weselsky of “maximizing power” and accused the train drivers of being “unworldly”.
Weselsky insulted 3,000 railway employees as “duck mice” (
those who still work, ed
.), this “and six days of strike for a completely absurd demand can only be compared with a Nero strategy,” said Palmer in his posting .
“Let Rome burn down, as long as the union emperor has his way, everything will be fine.
To make it crystal clear again: Germany is on the decline economically.
We don't have enough workers and they are too expensive.
“We are already the country with the shortest annual working hours in the world,” wrote the 51-year-old local politician: “The fact that people employed by the state, or at least by taxpayers, believe that they can now work three hours less with full wage compensation is simply quixotic.”
Let Rome burn down, as long as the union emperor has his way, everything will be fine.
Boris Palmer about GDL boss Claus Weselsky
Tariff strike at Deutsche Bahn: Boris Palmer has no sympathy for GDL train drivers
Many rail travelers in Germany had already criticized the recent GDL tariff strike in advance.
“There can be no understanding for this strike.
Then they can go on strike for as long as they want.
“It’s just as good for the railway as if it were to give in,” said Palmer.
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In the chaos of the strike, an angry Weselsky recognizes an “act” by Deutsche Bahnlesen
After that, what happens is what we are experiencing on the Ammertalbahn this week: there is no train service in the evenings due to a lack of staff in the signal box.
During the week, a train only runs every hour, instead of every 15 minutes, as was previously the case with the railways,” said the former member of the state parliament (2001 to 2007), also criticizing alleged grievances in Deutsche Bahn’s regional transport in Baden-Württemberg.
Claus Weselsky (left) is the federal chairman of the German Locomotive Drivers' Union (GDL).
© IMAGO / Michael Weber
Boris Palmer: Tübingen's mayor describes citizens' money as "self-service"
Palmer had another suggestion in his Facebook post: “Or we make the train drivers into civil servants.
Then the 41-hour week applies again without the right to strike.
For me the best solution.
A dwarf union cannot have the power to shut down half the country,” he wrote.
That's not all: the Tübingen town hall boss is regularly attracting attention these days with critical comments on social media, regardless of the GDL strike.
Among other things, Palmer described the traffic light federal government's citizens' money on Facebook as "self-service".
(
pm)