In the wage dispute with the train drivers' union GDL, Deutsche Bahn has, according to its own information, improved its offer in order to reach an agreement quickly. It now contains an additional "remuneration component", announced the state company on Saturday. “With the new offer, the company is taking another big step towards the GDL.” Personnel director Martin Seiler called on the GDL to negotiate again. “There are viable solutions on the table.” The union had announced that it would start preparing for the next strike on Monday if the railway had not submitted a “negotiable offer” by then.

The railway did not announce how high the so-called fee component should be and how it should be paid.

The union is demanding 3.2 percent more wages with a term of the collective agreement of 28 months and a corona bonus of 600 euros.

The railway wants to extend the tariff increase over a longer period of time and is offering a term of 36 months.

In addition, it offers a corona premium of 600 or 400 euros, depending on the wage group.

The remuneration component should also be paid.

In addition, according to its own account, the railway is accommodating the GDL in the dispute over old-age provision.

She therefore agreed to receive unrestricted entitlements from the previous pension system by the end of 2020.

The GDL has struck three times in the current collective bargaining round, most recently in passenger transport for five days.

Many commuters and travelers were affected by train cancellations and delays.

The railway put an emergency schedule into effect.

Freight traffic was also affected by the defaults.

More than every second German (53 percent) had no understanding for the third strike, as a Yougov survey for the German press agency revealed this week.

In contrast, 36 percent understood the action.

The sticking point of the collective bargaining law

A sticking point in the negotiations is the question of who the new contract should apply to.

The GDL not only wants to represent engine drivers and train attendants, but also to conclude framework collective agreements for employees in the workshops and in the infrastructure as well as for trainees.

The railway now said: "The group also declares that it is ready to review the scope of the GDL tariff regulations in today's GDL majority companies."

It is unclear whether that is enough for the GDL to return to the negotiating table.

The union could not be reached on Saturday morning.

GDL boss Claus Weselsky had argued that his union had thousands of new members in other rail professions such as administration.

They have a right to a collective agreement, which the railway denies them.

The background to the dispute is the Unified Collective Bargaining Act.

This stipulates that in a company with several unions only the collective agreement of the employee representatives with a larger number of members is applied.

From the point of view of the group, this is the competing railway and transport union EVG in a large part of the approximately 300 railway companies.

The GDL doubts that.

Employers are calling for reforms

Employers therefore now see a need for legal reform.

Employer President Rainer Dulger told the German Press Agency that the strike had little to do with the implementation of wage demands.

That is obvious.

“The GDL is fighting for the pioneering position in a large company and is paralyzing the whole country.

For me, this shows that there is a need for the legislature here. "

Dulger went on to say: “In the area of ​​infrastructure in particular, the state should think more sensitively about how to organize cooling phases. Because here the damage caused by a strike is particularly great and takes a particularly large number of bystanders hostage. Of course I accept that there can be labor disputes, but labor disputes without rules do not fit into the social market economy of the 21st century. "

Dulger made it clear that he did not want to re-tighten the tariff unity law. The train drivers' union GDL sees itself in fierce competition with the larger railway and transport union EVG. According to the collective bargaining law passed in 2015, only the collective agreement of the larger employee representation should apply to two unions in one company. This principle is called “one company - one collective agreement”. In the majority of the 300 or so railway operations, this is the EVG from the perspective of the railway.