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Deutsche Bahn freight trains: “We consider these wave strikes to be disproportionate”

Photo: Ronald Wittek / EPA

Just a few days after the end of the last strike, the GDL train drivers' union went back into industrial action.

It is already the sixth strike in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute - and the first of the so-called wave strikes.

Deutsche Bahn considers this to be illegal and has now filed an appeal to stop the strike.

DB submitted a corresponding urgent application for an interim injunction to the Frankfurt am Main Labor Court this morning.

In particular, the far too short lead time of just 22 hours for freight transport is “a sheer imposition,” says DB Human Resources Director Martin Seiler.

»We consider these wave strikes to be disproportionate.

They endanger the supply in the country.

We are doing everything in the interests of our customers to prevent this strike.

Anyone who demands a reduction in working hours from 38 to 35 hours and could get 36 hours in an overall package should not bring the entire country to a standstill.

Furthermore, the railway offered to continue the negotiations.

The moderators' overall proposal - including a 36-hour week with full wage compensation - could serve as a basis.

The DB is therefore calling on the GDL to call off the strike immediately and return to the negotiating table.

The DB also offered formal arbitration as an alternative yesterday.

The railway wants to offer an emergency timetable for long-distance transport this Tuesday, which passengers have been able to find out about on the group's website since Monday morning.

“The basic offering for regional and S-Bahn transport will be gradually expanded,” it said.

The extent to which the long-distance trains operate was initially not known.

During the previous GDL strikes, the railway offered around 20 percent of the usual long-distance transport.

The effects were different in regional transport.

On Sunday evening, the GDL called for what is now the sixth industrial action in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute with the railway.

From Tuesday morning, passenger transport will be on strike for 24 hours.

The freight transport strike is scheduled to begin on Monday at 6 p.m.

mik/dpa AFX