Meanwhile, GDL boss Weselsky caused great incomprehension with the false representation of an interim status in the railway collective bargaining negotiations on Wednesday. The President of the Federal Association of Local Rail Transport, Thomas Prechtl, expressed his understanding that misinterpretations could occur after numerous rounds. He also acknowledged that Weselsky had admitted what he called a “mistake in thinking”. But it should not happen “that millions of passengers will not be able to come to work again from Thursday because of such a mistake in thinking, because trains will not be running due to the strike”.
The background for the criticism is Weselsky’s descriptions of a compromise proposal that the former Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière and Schleswig-Holstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Günther (both CDU) submitted as moderators during the weeks of negotiations between the two collective bargaining parties. This envisaged a reduction in weekly working hours in two steps to 36 hours by 2028 with full wage compensation. The railway accepted the proposal. However, the GDL refused. The talks therefore failed last week and the union called for the next strike.
Also read: Claus Weselsky, the man who leads the GDL into strikes
Weselsky presented the mediators’ proposal differently at a press conference on Monday: They had suggested a reduction to just 37 hours with full wage compensation. A further half hour reduction would have been purely optional and associated with financial losses for the employees. In an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on Tuesday, Weselsky admitted that he had made a “mistake in thinking” with this false representation. But that doesn’t change his attitude, he added.