2023-11-15 09:04:57
The announced warning strike at Deutsche Bahn will lead to numerous regional and long-distance train cancellations across Germany on Wednesday and Thursday. Deutsche Bahn has created an emergency timetable for long-distance transport in response to the strike by the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL). Intra-Austrian daytime traffic between Salzburg and Tyrol via the Deutsches Eck is not affected by the restrictions, the ÖBB said in response to an APA request.
The Westbahn trains from Munich towards Vienna Westbahnhof should also run as scheduled and are not affected by the restrictions caused by the strikes at Deutsche Bahn, as the mostly private Westbahn announced on Wednesday.
Deutsche Bahn (DB) announced on Tuesday evening that the number of trips available would be significantly reduced. “For these journeys, the DB uses longer trains with more seats in order to be able to bring as many people as possible to their destination. However, a ride cannot be guaranteed,” it said. According to ÖBB, there will probably be no cross-border trains between Austria and Germany. Night trains (Nightjet and EuroNight) are also affected by the strike measures: There will be cancellations and partial cancellations on the night of Wednesday, November 15th. on Thursday, November 16th. The night trains to and from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands cannot run, the Austrian Federal Railways said.
The German union GDL has called for a 20-hour warning strike from Wednesday evening, 10 p.m. to Thursday evening, 6 p.m. This means that union boss Claus Weselsky is already tightening the pace of the collective bargaining dispute following the first round of negotiations. Railway human resources director Martin Seiler reacted to the union’s move with sharp criticism. The warning strike is “completely unnecessary” and an unreasonable expectation for rail passengers.
According to its own statements, Deutsche Bahn also wants to try to put a significantly reduced offer on the rails in regional transport. “The extent to which this is possible varies greatly from region to region. In any case, there will also be massive restrictions on regional transport,” the company said.
Passengers were asked to avoid non-essential train journeys during the warning strike or to postpone their journeys. Tickets for trips on Wednesday and Thursday might also be used at a later date. The train connection has been lifted. “The ticket is valid for the journey to the original destination, even with a changed route. Seat reservations can be canceled free of charge,” it said.
In collective bargaining with the railways, the GDL is demanding, among other things, 555 euros more per month for employees as well as an inflation compensation bonus of up to 3,000 euros. What is particularly important to Weselsky is a reduction in working hours from 38 to 35 hours for shift workers with full wage compensation.
The railway does not consider a reduction in working hours to be feasible and has so far refused any negotiations regarding it. Instead, DB Human Resources Director Martin Seiler offered an eleven percent salary increase for a period of 32 months in the first round of negotiations. He also expressed his willingness to pay the inflation compensation premium. “Too little, too long and at the end of the day not enough,” was Weselsky’s comment on the employer’s offer.
The negotiations were actually supposed to continue on Thursday and Friday. It was initially unclear whether it would stay that way and then be negotiated in parallel with the ongoing warning strike.
The GDL is the smaller of two railway unions, but it has the opportunity to significantly disrupt rail traffic, especially because of the many train drivers in its ranks. Deutsche Bahn has so far applied the GDL collective agreements in 18 of around 300 companies and emphasizes that only around 10,000 railway employees are affected by the collective bargaining negotiations that have now begun. For comparison: The railway and transport union EVG negotiated new collective agreements for around 180,000 DB employees in the spring and summer.
The GDL’s call for a warning strike is aimed not only at Deutsche Bahn employees, but also at employees of other companies with which the union is currently negotiating new collective agreements. However, Deutsche Bahn is by far the largest railway company in Germany – the state-owned company is therefore the focus of the warning strike.
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