“We could paralyze the railway for weeks”

There could soon be more massive warning strikes at Deutsche Bahn. The railway and transport union (EVG) has threatened tougher measures in the course of the stalled wage negotiations, which could last for several days. “We could paralyze the railway for weeks,” said negotiator Cosima Ingenschay of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Friday). Two warning strikes should have been enough to get a negotiable wage offer from Deutsche Bahn. “But the railways are obviously not interested in serious negotiations,” said Ingenschay, who is conducting the negotiations with Kristian Loroch for the union.

According to Ingenschay, the next warning strikes will last longer. “The effects obviously have to be more massive so that it hurts the employer.” It is conceivable that the EVG would start campaigns in different regions one after the other. Or that train attendants and other professional groups go on strike in turn. But these are all still conceptual models. “The railway system is so fragile that if we take out a few signal boxes, everything will collapse. The new strikes could affect several days,” said Ingenschay.

This is what the offer looks like

Deutsche Bahn declared the talks of the third round of negotiations to be over last Wednesday. The reason given by the state-owned company was the refusal of the union to negotiate the new offer from Deutsche Bahn for around 180,000 employees. In addition to a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment of a total of 2850 euros, it provided for a gradual increase from March next year of a total of 10 percent for the lower and middle wage groups and 8 percent for the upper wage groups.

The union rejected the offer as non-negotiable. It demands at least 650 euros more per month or twelve percent for the upper income group and a term of one year. The next negotiation date at the railway is scheduled for the end of May.