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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 first trip to court failed

During the ongoing conflict, the railway had already tried to legally prevent a labor dispute by the GDL, but was unsuccessful in two instances.

After negotiations failed again, the company called on the union for further talks at the end of last week.

The GDL tied this to the condition that the railway had to submit a new offer.

The union's ultimatum to the company's management had expired just over two hours on Sunday evening when the GDL announced another warning strike.

The union is fighting for higher salaries and fewer working hours at the railway.

The crux of the conflict continues to be the demand that shift workers only have to work 35 hours instead of the current 38 hours for the same money.

In a moderation, the railway accepted a compromise proposal.

This envisaged reducing working hours to 36 hours in two steps by 2028.

The GDL refused and allowed the talks to fail.

It no longer announces new strikes 48 hours in advance, but rather at short notice.

The GDL and its chairman Claus Weselsky have also not ruled out strikes over Easter.

With an emergency timetable for long-distance transport, the railway wants to prevent the worst disruptions for passengers.

The information about this has been available 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.

mik/dpa AFX