In the deadlocked dispute at Deutsche Bahn, the GDL is currently on strike to demand a reduction in working hours to 35 hours per week. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck said on Wednesday: “In any case, at the moment there is a bit too much striking or advertising for less and less work. And we really can’t afford that at the moment.” Germany’s economy is just stagnating. At the same time, 700,000 vacancies are reported, but there may be up to two million. This problem will only get worse with stronger economic growth and an aging society. The volume of all working hours is not enough. That’s why, for example, there is a need for financial incentives for older people to work longer if they want to. Habeck did not mention any specific collective bargaining conflicts. Because it’s not just the railways that are on strike, Lufthansa is also affected by several strikes in these weeks.
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Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected calls for restrictions on the right to strike in important supply areas such as the railways. In the past, decisions were made that transferred certain areas of public infrastructure that were managed by civil servants within the state’s jurisdiction into private law structures, said the SPD politician on Wednesday in the government survey in the Bundestag. “But we have also made the decision that the right to strike is also possible there to a certain extent.”