GDL warning strike: Bodo Ramelow blames the railway for the escalation of the collective bargaining dispute

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Bodo Ramelow: "I don't understand at all what the railway's strategy is"

Photo: Jacob Schršter / IMAGO / Jacob Schröter

After the start of the six-day strike by the train drivers' union GDL, Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) blamed Deutsche Bahn for the escalation of the collective bargaining dispute.

"I don't understand at all what the railway's strategy is," the former collective bargaining arbitrator told the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND) on Thursday.

"There is no arbitrable offer."

Instead, the railway board repeatedly tries to take legal action against the GDL.

“The goal is apparently to destroy the GDL,” said Ramelow.

»But that makes it even more of a fighting organization.

I can only shake my head in amazement.”

Ramelow, together with Matthias Platzeck (SPD), settled the collective bargaining dispute between the railways and the GDL in 2015.

In 2017, the Left Party politician and Platzeck were also appointed as arbitrators.

FDP politician Theurer warns of the consequences of the strike

Meanwhile, the government representative for rail transport, Michael Theurer (FDP), warned of the consequences of the current strike for the transport transition.

"With new and ever-longer strikes, the climate-friendly mode of transport, rail, is becoming increasingly less attractive," said the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport to the RND newspapers.

"Anyone who has previously considered switching from the car to the train now has another counter-argument." That is "playing with fire."

The FDP politician called on the train drivers' union and the railway company to negotiate.

He expects the collective bargaining partners to “reach out to each other, possibly supported by an arbitration procedure,” said Theurer.

“A solution must be found at the negotiating table.”

The GDL recently began its six-day rail strike, despite widespread criticism.

Most trains in the DB Cargo freight division have been at a standstill since Tuesday evening, as have passenger services since Wednesday morning.

The fronts in the collective bargaining dispute with Deutsche Bahn continued to harden: The railway called on the trade unionists to return to the negotiating table.

However, they rejected the latest rail offer from last week in writing as non-negotiable.