The railway and transport union (EVG) has threatened warning strikes over several days in the wage dispute with Deutsche Bahn. "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 railway is apparently not interested in serious negotiations," said Ingenschay, who is leading the negotiations with Kristian Loroch for the union.
The next warning strikes will last longer, according to Ingenschay. "The impact apparently has to be more massive for it to hurt the employer." It is conceivable that the EDC will launch actions one after the other in different regions. Or that train attendants and other professional groups go on strike alternately.
"Then everything collapses"
But these are all still models of thought. "The railway system is so fragile that if we take out a few signal boxes, everything collapses. The new strikes could have an impact for several days," Ingenschay said.
Deutsche Bahn had declared the talks of the third round of negotiations last Wednesday to be over. The reason was the union's refusal to negotiate the new offer of the railway for around 180,000 employees, the state-owned company had announced. In addition to a tax-free and duty-free inflation compensation of a total of 2850 euros, it provided for a gradual increase from March of next year of a total of 10 percent for the lower and middle 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 incomes, as well as a term of one year. The next hearing with Deutsche Bahn is scheduled for the end of May.