Fair Train Project: Weselsky and the unusual alliance between the GDL and the police union | EUROtoday

CLaus Weselsky made no effort to distance himself from Fair Train's new controllers: “My friend Rainer Wendt” will take over the chairmanship of the cooperative's supervisory board, stated the pinnacle of the German Locomotive Drivers' Union (GDL). Weselsky and Deutsche Bahn (DB) had simply agreed of their collective bargaining settlement that there needs to be a “unbundling” of the GDL and the Fair Train cooperative.

The cooperative, based by main GDL officers, will compete with the DB Group for practice drivers sooner or later. They needs to be employed by Fair Train after which loaned again to the DB or different personal railway corporations – below higher situations. Weselsky and the GDL wish to undermine the implications of the Unified Collective Bargaining Act, which has up to now ensured that the GDL collective settlement solely applies in 18 of the group's virtually 300 sub-companies.

Deutsche Bahn took the matter to court docket as a result of the corporate wished the GDL to be denied collective bargaining rights as a result of it couldn’t be a competing employer and a union on the identical time. A choice was nonetheless pending, however Weselsky nonetheless spoke of an assault on the existence of the sectoral union.

Now the authorized dispute is to be stopped as a part of the collective bargaining settlement, however in return the railway calls for that there have to be a separation between GDL and Fair Train sooner or later. The actual textual content of the settlement is just not identified, however it’s understood that it was agreed that nobody with whom DB will negotiate in future collective bargaining disputes might be allowed to carry a number one place on the cooperative on the identical time.

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Until now, GDL and Fair Train might hardly be distinguished from one another: the supervisory board was headed by the designated successor to Claus Weselsky on the high of the GDL, Mario Reiß.

But the comparability with the railway has in no way led to a transparent separation of personnel. Instead, there’s now an alliance of area of interest commerce unionists. In the longer term, the cooperative will not be managed immediately by the GDL management, however relatively by Weselsky's confidants and acquaintances from different commerce unions.

Rainer Wendt, the pinnacle of the German Police Union (DPolG), was elected chairman of the supervisory board. Here, too, there’s a considerably bigger competitor within the type of the police union (GdP) – similar to the GDL and the bigger railway and transport union (EVG). Wendt can be simply as controversial in public as his good friend Weselsky.

The two males are on first title phrases, they’ve identified one another for a very long time and have loads in frequent. “We are the only two union leaders with a CDU party membership and our own song by Jan Böhmermann,” says Wendt in an interview with WELT. He appears to think about the ZDF comic's insulting track to be an honor.

Another new supervisory board member can be an official of a sectoral union: Andreas Kögler is deputy chairman of DPVKom, which is primarily lively within the former state-owned corporations Telekom and Post. However, the Verdi union dominates there.

No particular railway experience

The relationship between the 2 unions is taken into account to be simply as tense as between the GDL and EVG. Kögler made headlines in 2018 as a result of it turned identified that he had beforehand labored as a full-time worker for the GDR Ministry for State Security (Stasi), as BILD reported.

Kögler admitted the exercise on the time. So far, Kögler has not been seen as having any particular railway experience; he couldn’t be reached for a touch upon Thursday.

Wendt additionally admits that he’s not a selected rail or practice driver professional. He has solely been a practice consumer for a few years and used to have a BahnCard 100. However, as a supervisory board member, he isn’t concerned within the operational enterprise of the cooperative, however is just supposed to observe Fair Train.

Wendt guarantees to strictly separate his private friendship with Weselsky and the brand new mandate sooner or later. “I know my obligations as a supervisory board member,” he says. He is already legally obliged to look carefully and to not go on any data to his good friend Weselsky. “I will carry out my supervisory board mandate exactly as the law requires,” says Wendt.

However, a special management mandate has gotten him into a variety of bother up to now. Because he, as a civil servant, had not registered a part-time job as a supervisory board member on the Axa insurance coverage firm, disciplinary proceedings have been initiated in opposition to Wendt.

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The new Fair Train cooperative is “an exciting project”. It is just not but attainable to foretell how profitable the corporate based by the GDL might be as a brief employment company. At least the GDL has managed to realize a “very good outcome” for the practice drivers, says Wendt. This might have a stronger attraction for practice drivers, as the brand new, extra versatile working time options won’t apply in all places on the railway, however will apply to Fair Train.

The new four-member supervisory board is accomplished by two controllers who’re lively at GDL. However, at a relatively low, regional degree. This signifies that the situations of the comparability with the railway may very well be formally met. “These are honest people, GDL membership should not exclude a supervisory board mandate,” says Wendt.

However, a transparent separation additionally appears completely different. The management of the practice drivers' union is due to this fact prone to proceed to have appreciable affect on the cooperative they based sooner or later.