Commuters and travellers will once again have to prepare for far-reaching restrictions on long-distance and regional transport services operated by Deutsche Bahn and other transport companies this Friday. The railway and transport union (EVG) has called for warning strikes lasting several hours in the ongoing wage dispute in the railway industry. Between 3 a.m. on Friday morning and 11 a.m., workers in all railway companies where negotiations are taking place are to stop work, the union announced on Wednesday.
"We are sending a clear signal that we do not want to hit the passengers but the companies by calling for a temporary warning strike in the early hours of the morning," said EVG board member Cosima Ingenschay.
Nevertheless, Deutsche Bahn's long-distance services in particular are likely to come to a standstill throughout the day because trains cannot be brought to a standstill in the morning on the line.
Arbitrators have proposed a solution to the collective bargaining dispute in the public sector
The EDC will continue its negotiations with the railway company Transdev this Wednesday. In the coming week, the talks are also to continue at Deutsche Bahn, which is particularly in focus. In the negotiations with the industry, the employee representatives are demanding at least 650 euros more per month for the employees or twelve percent for the upper incomes, as well as a term of twelve months. Currently, the union is negotiating in a second round with around 50 railway companies.
The EDC had already organised a first warning strike at the end of March together with the Verdi trade union. At that time, not only regional and long-distance rail transport was at a standstill, but also air and water transport. Verdi is currently negotiating with the federal and local governments about more money for the approximately 2.5 million employees in the public sector.
Last weekend, independent arbitrators proposed a solution to the collective bargaining dispute in the public sector. This initially provides for a tax- and duty-free inflation compensation in several stages of a total of 3000 euros. From March 2024, there will then be a basic amount of 200 euros and then a wage increase of 5.5 percent.
The railway had recently made it clear that it considers a compromise of this amount to be conceivable for the railway industry. In this way, the next round of negotiations on April 25 in Fulda could quickly come to a conclusion, the company announced on Sunday. The EVG, on the other hand, immediately rejected such a tariff solution for its own industry.