Collective bargaining dispute remains unresolved – EVG trade union starts ballot vote on strike
dpa
Audio: rbb24 Inforadio | 06/22/2023 | News | Image: dpa
The members of the railway union EVG have to decide on a strike. This was decided by the EVG Board of Directors. The summer holidays could also be affected. During the ballot, however, one was willing to negotiate, it said.
110,000 EVG members can vote on strike At least 75 percent must agree The summer holidays could be affected by rail strikes
The railway and transport union (EVG) lets its members decide on strikes in the railways in a ballot. This was announced by the board of the EVG on Thursday afternoon in Berlin.
110,000 members are now required, explained EVG chairman Martin Burkert. A result of the ballot is expected in four to five weeks. “As soon as 75 percent of those entitled to vote vote for a strike, we will initiate it as a board,” said Burkert.
Summer holidays could also be affected
Burkert left it open whether the strike would actually be indefinite. He spoke of a “longer strike” for which the population would be prepared in good time. The summer holidays could also be affected by rail strikes, according to Burkert: “The holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia start tomorrow and in Bavaria they don’t end until mid-September. So I can’t rule out that the summer holidays would also be affected.”
The EVG boss emphasized that the right to carry out warning strikes is reserved until the result of the ballot. EVG negotiator Kristian Loroch added that they would continue to be willing to negotiate in the coming weeks. Arbitration is also conceivable in principle, “but we decided that today and will continue on this path for the time being.”
EVG Vice President Cosima Ingenschay added: “Theoretically, you can continue to negotiate at any time. If the railways came to us with a good new offer, we would continue to negotiate during the ballot and refrain from warning strikes.”
Burkert: “We approached the board”
Union boss Burkert defended the decision on the ballot. Sticking points of the failed negotiations were the excessively long term of the offered collective agreement of 27 months and on the other hand the offered payment periods of two times 200 euros. “That’s not enough. Our request was 12 months and 650 euros more,” said Burkert.
The union approached the employer on several points, such as making working hours more flexible on weekends. In the bus sector, they offered to work an extra hour a week and, in principle, to increase part-time in old age. “In the end we had to realize that the total volume always stayed the same in the end and that was simply not enough.”
Railway spokesman reacted with sharp criticism
Deutsche Bahn has meanwhile sharply criticized the EVG union’s announcement of a ballot on indefinite strikes. “This escalation is absolutely unnecessary, we were very close to completion,” said railway spokesman Matthias Waha on Thursday. It is “absurd” to unsettle travelers with threats of strikes and possibly “spoil their summer holidays,” he added.
“There are 140 pages of collective agreement ready to be signed on the table,” spokesman Waha continued. Everything that has been achieved so far in the negotiations is now gone and the conclusion of the collective bargaining round will be delayed by months due to the ballot. It’s not up to the track, emphasized Waha, “it’s still ready to find a solution”.
Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, June 22, 2023, 2:20 p.m