As of: April 3, 2024, 10:16 a.m
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Who will travel from Oberland to Munich from December 2026? In the middle of the tendering process for the route, the Bayerische Oberlandbahn announced negotiations about a surcharge for employees in the event of temporary employment. For competitors, this means additional personnel costs if the application is successful. How high is unclear. © THOMAS PLETTENBERG
Bayerische Oberlandbahn GmbH is negotiating with the railway workers' union about surcharges in the event of temporary employment. This is not good news for the competition in the current tender process.
District - Bayerische Oberlandbahn GmbH (BOB) is making good on its announcement that it will strengthen the loyalty of its employees and is going public with it, even though no collective agreement has yet been signed. A signal to competitors in the tender process for the overland routes that is currently underway. This leaves a competitor in the dark as to what personnel costs they will incur. Pretty sure but more than the BOB would have to shell out. Because they want to give their employees to a possible victorious competitor in exchange for money.
If you want employees, you have to pay - more than BOB would have to
Arnulf Schuchmann announced the move a few weeks ago in an interview with our newspaper. This is possible because the BOB enjoys a certain position of power, especially when it comes to the railcar drivers. Almost everyone lives in the Oberland, which is necessary because the trains in the morning all start in the south and not in Munich. If a company other than BOB were to operate the routes to Bayrischzell, Tegernsee and Lenggries from December 2026, they would hardly be able to avoid relying on this employee base. The takeover is also specified in the tender; However, it is not mandatory for employees to sign with a new employer. Here the BOB takes action by stipulating the modalities of temporary employment in the collective agreement with the Railway and Transport Union (EVG) - with an allowance for the employees and a remuneration for the BOB in the event of a temporary employment. A competitor would probably have to pay at least the allowance in order to poach staff.
Negotiations for in-house rates are ongoing
A competitor - presumably the railway subsidiary DB Start - had already inquired about BOB's tariff conditions as part of the current tender. But he will hardly get any details. “The discussions on this are still ongoing,” explains BOB works council member Kathleen Rudolph, EVG Vice-Chairwoman Bavaria, member of the EVG Collective Bargaining Commission and the EVG Federal Executive Board when asked. “Both parties want measures that improve our working conditions and adequately reward our work,” she said in a press release. The modalities apply to all collectively agreed employees of BOB, which employs almost 600 people and operates three other networks in Bavaria in addition to the Oberland. As a company, it continues to operate as Bayerische Oberlandbahn GmbH, even though the trains operate under the Bayerische Regiobahn umbrella brand. The parent company Transdev operates numerous train and bus networks nationwide.
“Further benefits” under discussion
In addition to the question of wages, the EVG also writes about “other benefits” that are discussed without being specified. Employees at BOB can already choose whether they want more money, a two-hour reduction in working hours or twelve additional days of vacation. There are already subsidies for childcare and petrol costs, says Rudolph. This can be seen from the tender documents. What EVG and BOB agree on next, however, is not clear. This makes calculations more difficult for competitors. The application deadline ends in just over two weeks. The Bavarian Railway Company (BEG), which is responsible for rail traffic in the Free State, only allows questions about the tender today.
Kathleen Rudolph © EVG
“We don’t see anything wrong with it,” says Schuchmann about the steps that have now been taken. They asked their own lawyers about this. Neither BEG nor the alleged competitor want to assess the resulting uncertainty regarding future personnel costs upon request. The railway press office makes it known that it generally does not comment on ongoing procurement procedures.