“This strike will last a total of 35 hours. “35 hours so that everyone in the republic realizes what we’re all about: namely the 35-hour week,” said GDL boss Claus Weselsky. picture alliance / SvenSimon | Frank Hoermann/SVEN SIMON
The GDL union is calling for the fifth strike in the collective bargaining dispute with Deutsche Bahn. The strike in passenger transport begins on Thursday at 2:00 a.m. and ends on Friday at 1:00 p.m., and in freight transport from Wednesday 6:00 p.m. to Friday 5:00 a.m. The collective bargaining conflict has been going on for months; the GDL’s central demand is to reduce the weekly working hours for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours without financial losses.
There are no signs of an early solution to the tariff dispute with Deutsche Bahn. After the failure of the latest round of negotiations, the GDL union has called for a fifth strike. There will be no further announcements. This is the second strike this week to impact travelers.
The coming week will be stressful for travelers in Germany. The GDL has called for a 35-hour strike. In passenger transport, the strike should begin on Thursday at 2:00 a.m. and end on Friday at 1:00 p.m., GDL boss Claus Weselsky explained on Monday. In many cases, air travel could not be an alternative, as Verdi is calling for a warning strike at Lufthansa on Thursday and Friday.
The strike in rail freight transport is planned for Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. and is expected to last until Friday at 5:00 a.m. In addition, the GDL plans to no longer announce future strikes 48 hours in advance, emphasized Weselsky. “We are starting so-called wave strikes,” he said. “This means that the railway is no longer a reliable means of transport.”
This is the fifth industrial dispute in the collective bargaining dispute that has been going on for months. The last round of negotiations was canceled by the union on Thursday after about four weeks. A self-imposed peace obligation applied until Sunday. “This strike will last a total of 35 hours. “35 hours so that everyone in the Republic realizes what we’re all about: namely the 35-hour week,” said Weselsky.
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Shortly before, the Verdi union had called for warning strikes at Lufthansa. All ground staff should stop work on Thursday and Friday. The strike is scheduled to begin at 4:00 a.m. on Thursday and end at 7:10 a.m. on Saturday, which will cause significant disruption to air traffic.
The tariff conflict between the GDL and the railway has been going on for months. A central point is the union’s demand for a reduction in weekly working hours from 38 to 35 hours for shift workers without financial losses. The GDL declared the first phase of negotiations to have failed in November and then called for two longer strikes after a strike vote. There had previously been two one-day warning strikes.
The last industrial dispute was unexpectedly ended early, and at the beginning of February there were renewed negotiations behind closed doors between the GDL and the railway. During these four weeks, negotiations also took place with external mediators, the former Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière and the Schleswig-Holstein Prime Minister Daniel Günther. During this time, nothing was made public about the status of the negotiations.
AA/dpa