The end of the Christmas truce grips Germany’s locomotive union/rail strikes

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency quoting Uncertainty and chaos in rail travel will begin again for passengers in Germany on Monday as a self-imposed “Christmas truce” by the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL) in a bargaining dispute. The collective ends with Deutsche Bahn (German railway company) and other companies.

Therefore, renewed strikes are possible from the beginning of the week. Strikes could last significantly longer than before after the GDL successfully voted among its members in the run-up to Christmas. About 97 percent of the participants supported holding indefinite strikes.

According to the agreements made, at least on Monday and Tuesday, train traffic in Germany should be normal. be done. According to dbb president Ulrich Silberbach, the important conference of the German Civil Service Association (dbb), of which GDL is a member, must not be jeopardized by industrial disputes in the railways. Silberbach told “Kölner Stadtanzeiger” a few days ago: “Before Christmas, I agreed with Klaus Weselsky, the head of the German Locomotive Union, that there will be no strike at the Cologne conference. According to him, the arrival and departure of trains are guaranteed these days. What happens after that is out of my hands.

Rail strikes in Germany can be expected anytime from Wednesday at the latest. Especially since The two sides are not expected to come close in the collective bargaining dispute. The railroad extended its earlier offer on Friday. For the first time, the company accepted the reduced hours requested by GDL. However, the company’s human resources manager, Martin Seiler, still wouldn’t know about full wage compensation, which is also being demanded by the protesters.

GDL’s main demand is to reduce working hours for shift workers from 38 hours to 35 hours a week without a pay cut, a deal GDL has already reached with two smaller rail companies, Netinera and Go Ahead. According to Klaus Weselski, he wants to implement these results as a model throughout the industry. “We are committed to achieving similar deals in the market,” he said a few weeks ago. We will not give up.”

Last Friday, the railroad proposed expanding existing hours-of-choice models, saying employees could decide whether more money, They want more holidays or fewer working days per week. He added: You can reduce your weekly working hours from 39 to 37, but you will receive 5.7% less salary. Now the railway offers the possibility of reducing the weekly working hours in this case to 35 hours and announced that if you want, you can work up to 40 hours a week for a little more money.

The upcoming strikes could affect international and regional transport, S-Bahn and some private operators.

Following the escalation of disputes between companies The German Railways and the Union of Train Drivers of this country, the members of this union voted with an overwhelming majority at the end of last year to hold unlimited strikes at the beginning of the new year.

Controversies in The collective bargaining between Deutsche Bahn and the German train drivers’ union GDL continues to intensify. was held in Germany, which led to disruptions and the cancellation of many trains.

In the last days of last year, a wave of strikes covered various sectors of German public services. took These strikes were held in various sectors, including the health and treatment sectors, education, teachers, kindergartens and university staff and other sectors in protest of wages.

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