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Transport Minister Volker Wissing: “The strikes of the last few days have been an enormous burden”

Photo: Jacob Schröter / IMAGO

After the announcement of new collective bargaining between Deutsche Bahn and the train drivers' union GDL, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) addressed both sides. "I call on both collective bargaining parties to approach the talks with the necessary seriousness and to work responsibly on a solution," said Wissing on Saturday after it became known that the GDL strike would end prematurely.

Instead of on Monday evening, the strike in freight traffic should be concluded on Sunday evening, and in passenger traffic on Monday morning at 2 a.m. From Monday, February 5th, a solution to the collective bargaining dispute will be negotiated in Berlin. GDL and Bahn have set themselves the goal of reaching an agreement in the collective bargaining dispute by March 3rd. A peace obligation should apply during this period, which means that no further strikes are to be expected initially.

The railway announced on Saturday afternoon that there could still be restrictions in regional and long-distance transport on Monday. Long-distance tickets for Monday therefore remain valid. According to Deutsche Bahn, anyone who wants to postpone their trip planned for the original strike period until Monday evening can also “use the ticket at a later date”.

“The strikes of the last few days have been an enormous burden for rail passengers and our companies,” said Wissing. He welcomes the fact that the railways and the GDL are returning to the negotiating table.

"Strike showed how vulnerable our critical infrastructure is"

CSU General Secretary Martin Huber demanded that future rail strikes must be announced at least a week in advance. They are only likely to be possible after a failed arbitration procedure. "The strike showed how vulnerable our critical infrastructure is."

According to SPIEGEL information, both parties met on Friday in a hotel in Dresden - they talked between twelve noon and 2:30 a.m. on Saturday night. On Friday, SPIEGEL reported that GDL boss Claus Weselsky and his deputy Mario Reiß would go to a secret location to talk to railway representatives.

The German Locomotive Drivers' Union (GDL) has been on strike on freight traffic since Tuesday evening and Deutsche Bahn's passenger traffic since Wednesday morning. Six days of strike were announced.

The central point of contention is the union's demand to reduce the weekly working hours for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours from 2028 with full wage compensation. The GDL did not agree to an offer from the group to expand existing working time models. The railway had offered the train drivers to work one hour less at full pay from January 1, 2026 - then 37 hours. Anyone who decides against the reduction will receive 2.7 percent more money.

But the GDL has not yet backed down from its demand. The argument goes that the train drivers are overloaded and the rail offer is not negotiable. The collective bargaining conflict is complicated by the fact that the GDL wants to expand its influence in the company and also conclude collective agreements for employees in the infrastructure division. There are already collective agreements there from the larger railway and transport union (EVG), with which the GDL competes. The railway has so far rejected this request.

cry/dpa