How far the perceptions can diverge: If you follow Claus Weselsky, the chairman of the German train drivers' union (GDL), then Martin Seiler is one of those “greedy railroad managers” who enjoy themselves on the “carpet floors” and stuff their pockets while financially squeezing ordinary employees.

As HR Director of Deutsche Bahn, Seiler would then be a particularly bad case because, according to this logic, stuffing and squeezing is his departmental responsibility, of all things.

Dietrich Creutzburg

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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The same Martin Seiler, however, also has very positive references.

For example, he was named “CHRO of the Year” by a trade magazine last year, the best HR manager.

In particular, he stands out from the crowd of HR managers through successful corona crisis management at Deutsche Bahn.

Seiler managed to “keep the rail staff's willingness to work even in these particularly difficult times,” said last year's winner Julia Banger from the Datev software company in a laudatory speech.

However, there is now, at least in part, a serious problem with the operational readiness of the railway staff. As is well known, Seiler's counterpart in collective bargaining, Weselsky, called on the train drivers and train attendants organized in the GDL to take part in a labor dispute; Passenger and freight traffic is largely at a standstill for the time being. So it was Weselsky on Wednesday, who praised the commitment of these Bahn employees in his own way: "I have to say very clearly that our colleagues went on strike in a very disciplined manner."

On the surface, the conflict is about things that would be easy to clarify in a normal collective bargaining round: the extent and duration of a wage increase.

Weselsky demands 3.2 percent more money;

Seiler is already offering 3.2 percent, but he wants to stretch the increases longer because of the consequences of the economic crisis.

At the same time, he tirelessly emphasizes that discussions at the negotiating table are the best way to find compromises.

However, Weselsky currently sees it differently.

Weselsky speaks of "extermination campaign"

However, this is only the foremost backdrop of a multi-layered dispute, with the other layers only being vaguely recognizable from the outside. So the collective bargaining round also has sidelights, which are about company pensions. And behind this there are two real fundamental conflicts - about the role of the GDL as a collective bargaining party alongside the larger rail union EVG and about the GDL's demand to smash the rail company. It demands organizationally separating the rail network and train operations.

As the industrial dispute came to a head, Weselsky and Seiler are now publicly like archenemies in a battle for victory or ruin. However, the symmetry of this picture doesn't quite fit - not if you take the rhetoric of the two as a yardstick. In fact, Weselsky speaks of an "extermination campaign" that the railway is waging against the GDL. He also classifies journalists as opponents, turned into "compliant shackles" by the railway in their campaign. In addition, terms like “fake news” and “lie” have a fixed place in his vocabulary. On Wednesday he said again that Seiler was a liar.

However, there is no record of any utterance from Seiler that even comes close to such a pitch.

In fact, it would be difficult to prove that Weselsky's rhetoric had a provocative effect on him at all.

Rather, he promotes dialogue and negotiation with every utterance.

And recently even gave journalists the impression that he perceived Weselsky as a thoroughly constructive conversation partner in direct conversations, i.e. away from the public stage.

Observers who know Seiler better report the authentic optimism that the Baden-Baden native, born in 1964, exudes.

Accordingly, his mildness in dealing with Weselsky would at least not be due solely to calculation.

Which mutual kicks in front of the shins the two have already missed under the negotiating tablecloths, probably only they know.

Not all DBB superiors happy about Weselsky's appearance

The fact that Seiler prefers to think in terms of opportunities, no matter how bumpy the path appears, could also have something to do with his own career path: He started working for Deutsche Post in 1980, led him to the works council and to the Deutsche Postgewerkschaft, which was established 20 years ago rose in Verdi.

So he was an employee representative himself before he dared to jump into management at Swiss Post in 2003, from where he later moved to Deutsche Telekom.

After two years as Telekom Labor Director, Deutsche Bahn called him in 2017.

While Seiler's words have a slight Baden connotation, Weselsky, born in 1959, is Saxon. He grew up east of Dresden, trained as a rail vehicle mechanic and train driver in the GDR and on this way came to the GDL, which had only existed in the west before 1990. A special feature of this extremely edgy organization - at least under his leadership for 13 years - is that it belongs to the trade union family of the traditionally conservative-noble DBB civil servants' association. And where Weselsky also holds the office of deputy chairman in the federal management. According to reports, not all DBB superiors are happy with his demeanor.

However, it is unlikely that these will dissuade him from his conflict course with the railways. But there is still the motto of HR Director Seiler, which by the way also fits his role as an avowed supporter of 1. FC Köln: "I always stay positive and like to laugh, even when the situation is difficult."