GDL and Bahn are negotiating once more within the collective bargaining dispute – no strikes in the intervening time | EUROtoday

As of: 2:36 p.m | Reading time: 3 minutes

ABreathe a sigh of reduction for rail vacationers: An settlement is rising within the collective bargaining dispute between the practice drivers' union GDL and Deutsche Bahn. “Both parties are confident that they will be able to announce a result next week,” the corporate and the union mentioned on Saturday. “Until then, the GDL will refrain from further strikes,” the identical message continued.

The GDL and Bahn additionally stunned everybody with the information that they have been negotiating with one another once more. “An agreement was reached on many topics,” it mentioned. The negotiations subsequently happen behind closed doorways. It was agreed to not disclose the additional standing of the negotiations: “The negotiations are intensive but constructive.”

Easter holidays start in lots of locations

Two weeks earlier than Easter, this must be excellent news for a lot of passengers. In some federal states the Easter holidays start this Monday. Against this background, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing known as on the air transport and rail unions to look at an Easter peace settlement. “It is important that a solution is found now,” mentioned the FDP politician on Saturday on the sidelines of the Rhineland-Palatinate state get together convention. The collective bargaining conflicts must be resolved throughout the framework of collective bargaining autonomy.

The Pro Bahn passenger affiliation additionally obtained approval. “The foreseeable agreement is in any case in the interests of the passengers, who would have had less and less understanding of further strike measures,” mentioned chairman Detlef Neuß of the German Press Agency. Strikes can be a setback for the mobility transition, particularly through the travel-intensive Easter interval. “Passengers already have enough problems with the normal delays,” mentioned Neuß.

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The two sides most lately sat collectively behind closed doorways for a number of weeks in February to discover a answer to the collective bargaining dispute. The former Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière and Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther (each CDU) mediated this section. It initially remained unclear whether or not the 2 would seem as moderators once more on this spherical of negotiations.

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This time too, regardless of this risk, it is not going to be a proper arbitration. The GDL specifically has to date rejected this. In such a case, each side would first attain an arbitration settlement. This typically signifies that an arbitrator's choice is binding for each side. This didn’t apply to the compromise proposal that de Maizière and Günther made in the latest spherical of negotiations. The union subsequently didn’t settle for it.

The sticking level is a 35-hour week

The crux of the negotiations lately was the dispute over a discount in working hours for shift staff from 38 to 35 hours per week, as demanded by the GDL, with the identical wage. The railway had beforehand proven itself prepared to cut back working hours to 36 hours in two steps by 2028 with out monetary losses. However, GDL boss Claus Weselsky didn’t conform to this.

The union has already concluded collective agreements with greater than two dozen different railway corporations that stipulate the 35-hour week. However, these are topic to the situation that the railway additionally agrees to such a deal. Otherwise, the present contracts can be adjusted accordingly. Weselsky needs to stop that.

The GDL has already known as for industrial motion six occasions within the collective bargaining dispute. Most lately, the union resorted to a so-called wave strike, which it introduced at a lot shorter discover than earlier strikes. With the resumption of negotiations, the GDL has now dedicated itself to refraining from additional strikes throughout the talks.