A solution to the dispute between Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the German Union of Train Drivers (GDL) still seems unattainable after roughly five months of negotiations. Another round of strikes is in the books, but more are on the horizon, as GDL’s boss Claus Weselsky pointed out.
During a video interview with German media outlet Zeit, Weselsky said more strikes are likely to occur, but he did not specify when. DB is asking for the strikes to be announced with 48 hours’ notice, but the union is not mandated to comply. Even the intervention of moderators did not lead to any positive outcome, as the distance between GDL’s demands and DB’s offer still seems insurmountable. This led to a 35-hour strike called by GDL which ended this morning.
The two intermediaries drafted a proposal at the end of February, which was rejected by the union. “The moderator paper that has now been published was not acceptable to the GDL”, they mentioned. The union claims that DB also rejected the proposal, but the company denied the allegation. “DB already declared last week that it was prepared to go beyond its pain threshold and complete the negotiations on the basis of the moderators’ overall proposal”, DB specified.
The moderators’ proposal
The document drafted by the moderators as a starting point for negotiations was supposed to remain classified until 3 March, as GDL and DB agreed. However, it was leaked to German newspaper BILD on 29 February. GDL accused DB of leaking the information and consequently halted negotiations, announcing a 35-hour strike between Wednesday 6 and Friday 8 March. It needs to be mentioned that GDL also considers the moderators’ proposal unacceptable.
One of the main bones of contention in the dispute is that GDL is pushing for a working week of 35 hours instead of the current 38. According to the moderators’ proposal, there would have been a gradual reduction to 37 weekly hours from January 2026 and to 36 hours by the beginning of 2028. The reduction in hours would not come with a reduction in pay. GDL, on the other hand, is asking for a gradual reduction from the current 38 to 35 by 2028. The union highlighted that “there was and is no offer from DB to reduce working hours to the 36-hour week or even to the 35-hour week”.
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Weekly working hours are not the only issue
Other than the disagreements concerning working hours, GDL claimed there were various reasons to reject the moderators’ suggestions. For example, GDL wants to maintain the so-called ‘six more holidays’ scheme, which allows employees to take six extra days off per year by working one additional hour every week. GDL is ready to give up a similar scheme, the ‘12 more holidays’, but seems quite firm on maintaining the other one in place. According to the moderators’ proposal, the 12-day initiative would end in 2026 and the six-day one would stop in 2028.
There are additional disagreements regarding the 60-hour weekend rest period that train drivers are entitled to once a month. DB would like employees to continue working until 2 am on Saturdays in case of train delays, as long as the 60-hour rest is granted. GDL pointed out that such an initiative is virtually impossible. The union, on the other hand, proposed to start the weekend shift at 10 pm instead of 12 pm and use those two extra hours as a buffer period to take care of delayed trains. “However, DB did not agree to this”, GDL underlined.
Another point of the moderators’ proposal that was rejected by GDL concerns the so-called multifunctional use of employees. The document states that “in the future, an employee should be able to take on other tasks from other work areas”. However, the union deems this point as inadmissible, especially considering the recent developments concerning DB Cargo, where a reduction of the workforce might soon be a reality. More specifically, wagon masters might be turned into locomotive drivers and shunters, GDL said. “If the employer wants to get rid of employees, he should take responsibility for it”, the union added.
Also read:
- DB vs GDL: negotiations failed, new strikes on the horizon?
- DB vs GDL: strike ends, negotiations to resume
- GDL sends proposal to DB to end strike and resume negotiations
