As of: March 13, 2024, 8:20 p.m
By: Andreas Schmid
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On Tuesday the GDL strike entered the next round.
Left leader Schirdewan (r.) understands the demands of union leader Weselsky - and even demands more.
© IMAGO/Panama Pictures/dts//picture alliance/dpa/Bernd Weißbrod (montage)
The rail strike continues.
The Left is clearly on the side of the union in the dispute between Deutsche Bahn and GDL.
Party leader Schirdewan demands even more than GDL boss Weselsky.
Train riders also needed strong nerves this week.
On Tuesday there was once again little going on in Deutsche Bahn's long-distance traffic.
The reason was the strikes by the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL), which have now become almost commonplace.
Their boss Claus Weselsky justifies the strikes with the lack of cooperation from the railway company.
GDL wants a 35-hour week
The GDL is fighting for higher salaries and fewer working hours at the railway.
The crux of the conflict continues to be the demand that shift workers only have to work 35 hours instead of the current 38 hours for the same money.
The railway recently came up with a compromise proposal.
This envisaged reducing working hours to 36 hours in two steps by 2028.
The GDL refused and allowed the talks to fail.
There is support for this from the left - which overall demands even more than Weselsky.
In the rail dispute, the Left is demanding a 30-hour week with full wage compensation
Left party leader Martin Schirdewan says to
IPPEN.MEDIA
: “The railway must now take credible steps to meet the demands of the train drivers.” Back in January, he described the GDL’s demands as “actually quite moderate”.
His suggestion: a general four-day week or 30 hours of standard working time with full wage compensation.
“We have to go in this direction.
Deutsche Bahn could one day be a pioneer.”
Schirdewan sees a negative impact on the railway company.
“Anyone who complains about a lack of staff and at the same time refuses to improve wages and working conditions as demanded by the workforce will sooner or later no longer have any staff at all.”
Merz: “Weselsky holds the entire national economy liable”
Other politicians have recently expressed less understanding for the strikes.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz, for example, sharply criticized Weselsky: “Mr. Weselsky is now holding the entire national economy liable for his personal fight against Deutsche Bahn,” said Merz on Tuesday in Berlin.
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr made a similar statement: “The head of the GDL is overshooting the mark.” Conservative politicians are also increasingly considering tightening the right to strike.
Social organizations and the left reject this.
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Schirdewan says: “The unpunctuality of the train is neither God-given nor caused by the strikers.
It is the result of miserable railway management and political failure.
The federal government has been investing far too little in the railways for years.”
(as)