Rail strike: On Wednesday and Thursday, only every fourth long-distance train is supposed to run

In response to the strikes announced by the train drivers' union GDL, Deutsche Bahn has drawn up a replacement timetable for local and long-distance traffic.

The nationwide offer in long-distance traffic will be reduced to just 25 percent on Wednesday and Thursday, the railway announced on Tuesday.

Highly frequented routes and connections to important train stations and airports would have priority.

As of Friday, the railway expects a "largely regular" operation again.

The union of German locomotive drivers (GDL) had called for a strike at Deutsche Bahn.

The strike in freight traffic is to begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

This is followed by a nationwide 48-hour strike in passenger traffic and in the rail infrastructure from Wednesday, 2 a.m. to Friday, 2 a.m.

Previously, 95 percent of the participating members had voted for a labor dispute in a strike vote.

This far exceeded the necessary approval rate of 75 percent, explained Weselsky.

According to him, 70 percent of the members at Deutsche Bahn took part in the strike vote.

According to Weselsky, the GDL does not want to accept a zero round in the current year.

It requires a significant corona premium and income increases of 3.2 percent for a term of 28 months.

"Attack on the whole country"

In view of new billions in losses during the corona pandemic and major flood damage, Deutsche Bahn wants a longer-term collective bargaining agreement and later increments with the same percentage.

A strike would be an "attack on the whole country," said Bahn personnel manager Martin Seiler.

"Especially in a system-relevant area such as mobility, it is now important to sit down at the negotiating table and not burden our customers," he said.

He also criticized the GDL for failing to adhere to its announcement to give customers sufficient advance notice before the strike begins.

The short-term nature of the strike is also causing displeasure among the Pro Bahn passenger association.

Honorary chairman Karl-Peter Naumann said on Tuesday that customers needed more time to reschedule their trips.

“At Deutsche Bahn, a strike is not only directed against the company, but also against large sections of the population.

Many passengers cannot avoid it. ”Naumann appealed to the tariff partners to continue negotiating.

"Muscle games do not help anyone."

Competition with the EVG

During the last GDL train driver strike six years ago, around a third of the trains were able to run in long-distance traffic, especially on the main routes from the Ruhr area to the east and from Hamburg to the south.

A majority of the trains in regional traffic and S-Bahn trains are likely to fail in the event of a train drivers' strike.

The disrupted operations could then also lead to restrictions for competitors of Deutsche Bahn.

The union wants to make further strikes beyond Friday dependent on the behavior of employers.

The railway believes an agreement on the "material demands is possible" and called the GDL back to the negotiating table.

In addition to the dispute over income growth, a power struggle is raging in the group between the GDL and the larger railway and transport union (EVG). For the GDL, high collective wage agreements for as many occupational groups and employees as possible are a question of survival and future growth opportunities. Because the railway has to implement the unified tariff law. In the approximately 300 companies of the company, only the collective agreement of the larger trade union is to be applied. Usually this is the EVG. The GDL has therefore announced that it wants to chase members away from the competition.

It is the first strike at Deutsche Bahn since December 2018, when the EVG called on its members to take part in a labor dispute.

The GDL strike was much harder in 2014 and 2015. In eight increasing waves, the train drivers under Weselsky's leadership stopped work and paralyzed large parts of the route network.

The EVG had already signed a collective agreement with the railway last autumn.

This year there was a clear round.

At the beginning of 2022, employees will receive 1.5 percent more money.

Terminations for operational reasons are excluded.