The German Machinists’ Union (GDL) announced this Monday new strikesthe first will be this week, after breaking off negotiations with Deutsche Bahn (DB) in their dispute to obtain an improvement in working conditions.
The head of GDL, Claus Weselsky, said at a press conference that there will be strikes “in waves” without prior notice and without revealing their duration throughout the country, but he did confirm that the first will take place from 17:00 GMT on Wednesday in the transport of goods and from 01.00 GMT on Thursday for the transport of passengers.
This first strike will last until Friday at 04:00 GMT and 12:00 GMT, respectively, 35 hours in total, a figure that should symbolize the demand of the machinists to reduce the work week to 35 hours from the current 38 hours, he indicated.
The union broke off negotiations with DB early four days ago because the railway company only presented “indecent proposals,” in the words of Weselsky.
The machinists have carried out several strikes in recent months and the intention was to negotiate behind closed doors with DB for four weeks to bring the collective bargaining to a successful conclusion, but they have concluded that the company “never conducted the conversations in a solution-oriented manner.”
The GDL highlights that it managed to reach good commitments with 28 railway companies “in fair and fast negotiations”but not so with DB.
With all of them GDL has agreed on a salary increase of 420 euros, starting six months and a gradual reduction of the workweek up to 35 hours in five days until 2028.
However, always according to Weselsky, DB offered an increase of 410 euros in its last offer, but when doing the calculations this amount actually remained at 380 euros through “tricks” introduced by the railway company.
Furthermore, according to the GDL, DB proposed reducing the working week to 37 hours in six days without a salary increase until 2026 and “only if it was feasible for the employer.”
Source: Gestion
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