The German train driver’s union GDL is launching a several-day strike this week. Freight services will be affected starting Tuesday, 9 January, at 18:00. The industrial action is expected to last until the evening of Friday, 12 January, with a substantial impact on cargo transport operations.
The development follows a voting procedure in December where the vast majority of GDL members (97 per cent) voted in favour of extended strikes in case the labour dispute with Deutsche Bahn was not resolved.
The ballot results became public just before Christmas, and GDL’s head, Claus Weselsky, had mentioned that strikes could commence as early as 8 January based on the results. The union kept its promise, and as the rail industry returns from the winter break, it is already forced to deal with a week of severe traffic impairments.
GDL mentioned that Deutsche Bahn did not use the holiday period to reapproach the labour dispute with a better offer. On its behalf, the German state-owned company underlined that a strike was completely unnecessary and called the union to negotiate again and “come back to its senses”.
DB takes GDL to court
Apart from the strikes deemed unnecessary and provocative by DB, they are also considered illegitimate. This is why the company took the dispute with GDL to the court, specifically the Hessian State Labour Court. In doing so, DB Human Resources Director Martin Seiler said that DB attempts to determine with legal certainty whether it has “a collective bargaining partner who is capable of acting”.
The argument behind this decision is that since GDL “does not want to negotiate,” it should also be unable to carry out strikes. The union called this move an “absurd legal manoeuvre”. According to DB, it is still unclear when the court hearing will take place. As a result, for the time being, strikes will take place as planned by GDL, and the German rail freight sector will attempt to deal with a substantial challenge.
RailFreight.com will continue monitoring the situation in Germany and provide comprehensive updates on traffic disruptions and alternative solutions.
