As of: March 7, 2024, 5:00 a.m
By: Amy Walker
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The collective bargaining negotiations between GDL and Deutsche Bahn failed despite high-ranking mediators.
The union is paralyzing traffic on Thursday and Friday.
Update from March 6th, 2:30 p.m.:
The head of the GDL train drivers' union, Claus Weselsky, has caused further incomprehension about the new strike starting this Thursday with a false representation of a mediation proposal for rail collective bargaining.
The Federal Association of Local Rail Transport announced on Wednesday that “millions of passengers will not be able to come to work again from Thursday because of such a mistake in reasoning, because trains will not be running due to the strike.”
But publicly admitting your own “error in thinking” shows inner greatness.
After several weeks of negotiations between Deutsche Bahn and the union, two moderators - the former Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière and Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther (both CDU) - recently submitted a compromise proposal.
This envisaged a reduction in weekly working hours in two steps to 36 hours by 2028 with full wage compensation.
The railway accepted the proposal.
However, the GDL refused.
The talks therefore failed last week and the union called for the next strike.
Weselsky initially presented the arbitrators' proposal differently at a press conference on Monday. © Robert Michael/dpa
Weselsky initially presented the arbitrators' proposal differently at a press conference on Monday: They would have suggested a reduction to just 37 hours with full wage compensation.
A further half hour reduction would have been purely optional and associated with financial losses for the employees.
Weselsky admitted to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Tuesday that he had made a “mistake in thinking” with this false representation.
But that doesn't change his attitude, he emphasized.
The background is the GDL's core demand in the wage dispute that has been simmering for months: it wants to reduce the weekly working hours for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours without financial losses for the employees.
“It is all the more incomprehensible to us that people insist on maximum demands, do not move an inch, stand up and leave the negotiations,” said a railway spokesman in Berlin on Wednesday.
“We were prepared to go beyond our own pain threshold and accept this proposal.”
Update from March 6th, 11:20 a.m.:
Deutsche Bahn is preparing an emergency plan for the two strike days Thursday and Friday.
This “basic offer” can vary greatly from region to region, which is why Deutsche Bahn asks travelers to inform themselves at least 24 hours before starting their journey.
As with previous strikes, longer trains will be used to transport as many passengers as possible at once.
Update from March 6th, 11:00 a.m.:
The chairman of the Bundestag Transport Committee, Udo Schiefner (SPD), has called on the GDL to return to the negotiating table.
“My appeal is very simple: the right to strike is one thing, a sense of responsibility is another,” Schiefner told the
Bild
newspaper on Wednesday.
He criticized the announcement by GDL boss Claus Weselsky that he would forego the usual announcement of strikes in the future: “Thousands of rail customers will certainly know exactly whether not announcing the strike is acceptable.
Many are rightly fed up.”
It is “a very unusual path that Mr. Weselsky is taking.”
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GDL strike in freight transport |
March 6th at 6:00 p.m. to March 8th at 5:00 a.m |
|---|---|
GDL strike in passenger transport |
March 7th at 2:00 a.m. to March 8th at 1:00 p.m |
Subsequent strikes |
From now on without notice |
Union parliamentary group vice-president Jens Spahn (CDU) told the newspaper that the strikes were “massively damaging” the economy in the midst of the crisis.
The traffic light government can no longer stand idly by, “if in doubt, the Chancellor himself must mediate.”
Union parliamentary group vice-president Ulrich Lange (CSU) criticized that DB and GDL “have apparently lost all contact with normal people in this country”.
If Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) does not have the strength to call the brawlers to order, the Chancellor will have to intervene.
Weselsky admits errors in the strike announcement
Update from Wednesday, March 6th, 7:40 a.m.:
Deutsche Bahn will be on strike again starting today, Wednesday evening (March 6th).
The German Locomotive Drivers' Union (GDL) gave up collective bargaining talks with the railway because it believed that the company had not adequately met their demands.
Now the negotiators of the negotiations, the former Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière and the Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Daniel Günther (both CDU), have made a clarification in a letter to both collective bargaining parties.
In the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” the chairman of the GDL, Claus Weselsky, admitted that he had made a mistake.
He told the newspaper he had made a mistake.
“I made a mistake in my thinking during the press conference,” he explained.
However, this error does not change his rejection of the moderators' proposal, he emphasized.
Because this does not include any movement towards a 35-hour week, the GDL's original demand.
Weselsky claimed at a press conference on Monday that the mediators' proposal had only envisaged a reduction to 37 hours with full wage compensation.
The railway had disputed this representation, and now Thomas de Maizière and Daniel Günther are also correcting their suggestion.
Update from March 5th, 5 p.m
.: Because of the strike in passenger rail traffic that was announced for 35 hours starting Thursday morning, many travelers are apparently switching to rental cars.
On a nationwide average, 368 percent more rental cars were booked via the comparison portal Check24 at the beginning of the week than in the previous week, as it announced on Tuesday.
The price development also showed a strong upward trend.
The increase in bookings was particularly strong in the capital Berlin: According to Check24, bookings here shot up by 770 percent.
Prices rose across Germany by an average of 62 percent.
It became particularly expensive at the start of the week in Frankfurt am Main, where the comparison portal registered the largest price increase of 169 percent.
Update from March 4th, 5 p.m
.: Martin Seiler, the human resources director of Deutsche Bahn, defended the railway's actions at a press conference in the afternoon.
They have moved towards the GDL on all points, but the union is still insisting on its maximum demands.
“We experienced a new quality today,” said Seiler about Claus Weselsky’s press conference and the union’s plan to strike without notice in the future.
“This will make traveling even more unplannable for millions of people.”
Seiler called on the GDL to return to the negotiating table.
“We were actually of the opinion that an agreement should be reached in four weeks.”
When asked what could happen next, the human resources director simply said that in the end a solution could only be found through negotiations and not through strikes.
“This will also become clear to the GDL at some point.”
In his opinion, wave strikes like those that have now been announced have “never happened” at the railway.
Deutsche Bahn criticizes GDL as “stubborn and selfish”
Update from March 4th, 4:30 p.m.:
Deutsche Bahn wants to inform about the next steps at a press conference in the late afternoon (5 p.m.).
The question of an emergency timetable will probably be important for travelers.
However, if the union wants to strike without notice in the future, it will be difficult to set up.
It has not yet revealed how the railway plans to deal with this uncertainty.
GDL strike in freight transport |
March 6th at 6:00 p.m. to March 8th at 5:00 a.m |
|---|---|
GDL strike in passenger transport |
March 7th at 2:00 a.m. to March 8th at 1:00 p.m |
Subsequent strikes |
From now on without notice |
Update from March 4th, 12:15 p.m.:
The railway has now responded to the GDL announcements with its own press release: “Because the train drivers' union is not getting its maximum demands, it is striking again.
That's stubborn and selfish.
Many millions of people in our country cannot travel by train because the GDL leadership is unwilling to make compromises,” says Human Resources Director Martin Seiler.
“We remain prepared to find constructive but realistic solutions.
However, the maximum demands of the GDL cannot be met and are massively endangering the railway system.”
The railway will provide information about the upcoming strike from Wednesday “as quickly and comprehensively as possible” and sharply criticized the planned “wave strikes”.
It is “a sheer imposition on our passengers”.
The union should return to the negotiating table.
New GDL strikes at Deutsche Bahn: “wave strikes” without notice
Update from March 4th, 11:45 a.m
.: Claus Weselsky is increasing the pressure on the railway.
The GDL boss announced that there will be a strike on passenger transport in Germany on Thursday and Friday.
After that, Weselsky said, the union would go on strike without prior notice.
Until now, the GDL had always announced the respective strike at least 48 hours in advance.
At the press conference, Weselsky became one thing above all: very clear.
“The fact that this railway board can continue to act like this is not least the fault of politicians, specifically the Minister of Transport.”
The GDL boss had a lot to say about this in particular after Volker Wissing (FDP) warned in Bild am Sonntag at the weekend that the GDL would endanger the country's security with further strikes.
“I’m really excited about how our transport minister is adhering to collective bargaining autonomy!
How he doesn’t discipline this railway board, doesn’t throw him out because of poor performance,” said Weselsky.
It was noted how the minister perceived collective bargaining autonomy.
“So we are now starting with so-called wave strikes.
And we are saying: The train is no longer a reliable means of transport,” said the GDL boss when announcing the strike.
“It is very likely that the so-called emergency plan will not be possible.”
GDL announces rail strikes from Wednesday – Claus Weselsky makes it clear
Update from March 4th, 11 a.m.:
The GDL press conference has begun.
GDL boss Claus Weselsky announced: There will be further labor disputes.
The first strike will last 35 hours, said Weselsky, and will begin in freight traffic this Wednesday and in passenger traffic from Thursday.
There will be no more announcements - there will just be a strike.
“Everyone must now have noticed that this railway board is incorrigible,” he told the media.
In a press release, the union writes that the next strike begins on Thursday, March 7th at 2 a.m. and will last until Friday, March 8th at 1 p.m.
The freight transport strike will begin on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. and end on Friday, March 8, 2024, at 5:00 a.m.
In the press conference, Weselsky said: “The other strikes are not mentioned in terms of length or when they began.”
The union's statement states: "The GDL is already pointing out that it can no longer guarantee timely information for travelers in the event of future strikes."
Indefinite rail strikes back on the table: All eyes on Claus Weselsky
First report from March 4th, 9:17 a.m.:
Berlin - Collective bargaining negotiations between the German Locomotive Drivers' Union and Deutsche Bahn are deadlocked.
After a month of peacekeeping and secret consultations, including with two high-ranking mediators, both sides are left with a shambles.
They couldn't come to an agreement.
This Monday, March 4th, GDL boss Claus Weselsky is giving a press conference in Berlin, where an announcement about the next steps is expected.
The sword of Damocles of indefinite strikes still hangs over the collective bargaining dispute.
GDL boss Claus Weselsky at a rally.
(Archive photo) © Daniel Karmann/dpa
GDL and Bahn have been negotiating for months - the sticking point remains the reduction in working hours
GDL and Bahn have been fighting for a new collective agreement for months.
The crux of the matter is the union's demand for a reduction in weekly working hours from 38 to 35 hours for shift workers without financial losses.
The GDL had already declared the first phase of negotiations in November to have failed and then called for two longer strikes after a strike vote.
Long-distance, regional and freight transport in Germany largely came to a standstill for days.
The GDL surprisingly ended the latest industrial dispute early and met with the railway company for further negotiations behind closed doors at the beginning of February.
Negotiations then took place for four weeks with external mediators - the former Federal Minister Thomas de Maizière and Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther (both CDU).
Nothing was made public during this time.
On Thursday, the railway finally announced that the GDL had broken off the negotiations.
According to the railway, the negotiations failed due to the union's core demand for a reduction in weekly working hours.
The railway rejects this, but in the previous weeks had suggested solutions within the framework of existing working time choice models.
However, the union accused the railway of not sticking to the agreements regarding external communication.
According to the
Tagesspiegel,
Weselsky accuses his counterpart Martin Seiler, the railway's human resources director, of "camouflaging, tricking, filling pockets."
The offer that the railway has made so far is a “label fraud”, as the railway only wants to enable a reduction in working hours if this is operationally possible.
Wissing calls for talks to be resumed
There is now a renewed threat of strikes, which could also be indefinite.
This has never happened before, even though there have been difficult negotiations in the past.
In 2007 and 2008, for example, the collective bargaining dispute between the railways and the union lasted 11 months.
But even then the sharpest sword, the indefinite strike, failed to materialize.
It is unlikely that the GDL will now resort to this last resort, although not impossible.
First of all, it is likely to start again with a strike lasting several days, like the five-day strike in January that was already announced but then canceled.
A strike over Easter also seems conceivable in order to build up as much pressure as possible.
Accordingly, Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) tried to advocate for a resumption of negotiations in
Bild am Sonntag
at the weekend .
“It would no longer be explainable to the people of this country if there were another strike after months of negotiations because those responsible at the negotiating table were unable to find a solution.”
In addition to rail drivers, the economy would also be affected by new strikes because freight transport cannot move either.
Wissing therefore warned of supply bottlenecks and disruptions to supply chains in industry as well as possible problems for energy suppliers due to the transport of coal for power plants.
In view of the new GDL strike at the DB, passengers should inform themselves well in advance.
(Symbolic photo) © Christian Charisius/dpa
“In addition to the massive disruption to everyday life for large parts of the population, those responsible should remember that there is war in Europe,” said the Transport Minister.
“This tariff dispute must not become a security risk.
We have to find a common solution to this problem.”
With material from dpa and AFP