In the currently raging collective bargaining conflict, the German railway union members are once again conducting a warning strike. And this time it should be the longest yet: from 10 p.m. on Sunday evening to midnight on Tuesday night, practically all train traffic in the neighboring country must be paralyzed for 50 hours!
“Since little is happening at the negotiating tables, there will be another strike,” said Cosima Ingenschay, board member of the Rail and Transport Company (EVG) on Thursday. “We went on strike for a total of 50 hours and are thus increasing the pressure considerably because the employers leave us no other choice,” said negotiator Kristian Loroch.
The last two warning strikes also affected connections to and from Austria. The union has been negotiating since the end of February with Deutsche Bahn and 50 other railway companies about higher rates for some 230,000 employees. The next round of talks with Deutsche Bahn is scheduled for May 23. In the negotiations, the union wants to get at least 650 euros per month more for employees or 12 percent for higher incomes, all with a term of the collective agreement of one year.
On this basis, the state group initially proposed a tax- and tax-free inflation correction in several stages, totaling 2,850 euros. In addition, wages and salaries must be increased in stages from March 2024 – by a total of ten percent for the lower and middle wage groups and by eight percent for the higher wage groups. Deutsche Bahn, on the other hand, wants to be guided by the closure of the public service, which was reached at the end of April.
Whirl about paid bonuses
A media report, according to which thousands of Deutsche Bahn executives received bonuses totaling at least a triple-digit million at the end of April, caused unrest in the middle of the pay dispute. The bonuses were paid to 30,000 employees, including about 3,800 managers, NDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported Wednesday evening. Railroad circles said the group “complies with workers’ employment contracts, which have been in place for decades, including collective bargaining employees and managers.” The NDR quoted a railway spokesperson as saying that the money was paid out at the end of April.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
