The GDL union expects a strike vote result around Christmas
Tuesday, November 21st, 2:12 p.m.: In the collective bargaining dispute at Deutsche Bahn, the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL) is currently letting its members vote on indefinite strikes – they expect the result of the strike vote to take place shortly before or shortly after Christmas. A spokesman emphasized on Tuesday that further warning strikes cannot be ruled out until then. The ballot has started. The GDL must send all members the relevant documents and wait for their responses. In order for the GDL to be able to strike indefinitely, 75 percent of the members must vote in favor of it.
The union announced the strike vote last week, shortly after the first warning strike and around a week after the first round of negotiations in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute. With the strike vote, GDL boss Claus Weselsky wants to secure the industrial dispute, above all, legally. Warning strikes that last too long could be banned by the labor courts. There are no guidelines regarding duration or frequency for strikes after a strike vote.
The railway criticized the weekend vote as “irrational”. “The train drivers’ union is only looking for conflict; it is not in a position to cooperate,” the company said.
In the conflict, the GDL is demanding, among other things, 555 euros more per month and an inflation compensation bonus. The crux of the conflict, however, is their demand for a reduction in working hours for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours per week with full wage compensation. The railway rejects this. So far it offers eleven percent more money with a term of 32 months as well as the required inflation compensation premium.
Verdi calls out Warning strikes at university hospitals in the north
8:50 p.m.: The Verdi union has called for warning strikes at the university hospitals in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Friday. “We assume that there can and will be restrictions on routine work and also on planned appointments,” said division manager Jochen Penke on Monday in Kiel. Anyone who has appointments at one of the university hospitals on Friday should inform themselves in advance. It will be ensured that real emergencies can be taken care of.
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According to the union, all collective bargaining employees, trainees, interns and students at the university medicine in Greifswald, Rostock and at the two locations of the Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital in Kiel and Lübeck are called upon.
Verdi is demanding 10.5 percent more income for public sector employees in the federal states, but at least 500 euros more per month. Young talent should receive 200 euros more and trainees should be taken on for an unlimited period. However, the Collective Bargaining Association of German States (TdL) with its negotiator, Hamburg’s Finance Senator Andreas Dressel (SPD), made it clear in the second round of negotiations that it considered the demands to be far too high and unaffordable.
The third round of negotiations on December 7th will focus on salaries for around 1.1 million employees. Around 1.4 million civil servants are also affected, to whom the result is usually transferred.
Nationwide university warning strike – actions in over 70 cities
Monday, November 20th, 4:36 p.m.: With warning strikes, rallies and protests at more than 70 universities in Germany, public sector employees demanded better pay on Monday. An alliance of trade unions, initiatives, student representatives and university policy organizations mobilized for a day of action under the motto “Stop precarious science”. According to the unions, hundreds of people took part in the rallies in various cities, including Hamburg, Dresden, Cologne and Munich.
According to the Education and Science Union (GEW), around 1,500 people stopped working in Berlin alone. “In this collective bargaining round, we have more university employees on the streets than ever before,” said the chairwoman of the GEW Berlin regional association, Martina Regulin.
As part of the current collective bargaining round for state employees, the unions are demanding a salary increase of 10.5 percent, but at least 500 euros more per month. The unions are also negotiating a collective agreement for student assistants. The massive fixed-term contracts at universities are also an issue. Verdi demands that at least 35 percent of scientific employees should be employed on a permanent basis. There are also demands that go beyond the collective bargaining agreement. These include higher Bafög rates and research and teaching that is financed independently of third-party funding and project funding.
Warning strikes with rallies are planned for the next few days in Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Wuppertal, Bielefeld, Münster, Dortmund and Duisburg, among others.
Bahn: GDL ballot “strange and completely irrational”
Saturday, November 18th, 2:49 p.m.: Die German railway has criticized the GDL union’s strike vote on longer strikes as “strange and completely irrational”. According to a statement, a company spokesman said on Saturday that the negotiations had not even failed. “The train drivers’ union is only looking for conflict; it is not in a position to cooperate.” In the first round of negotiations, the railway presented an offer for an eleven percent wage increase. “The GDL is canceling the second negotiation date and is now initiating the ballot without further negotiations, even though it has already been agreed. Who else is supposed to understand that?”
Shortly after the first warning strike in the current collective bargaining dispute, the GDL called on its members to vote on indefinite strikes at the railways and other transport companies. With a view to the negotiations, GDL boss Claus Weselsky accused the employers of stalling tactics.
According to the GDL, 75 percent of members must be in favor of longer and more frequent industrial action. It is unclear when the result will be available. The GDL is not ruling out further warning strikes until then.
From Wednesday to Thursday evening, large parts of long-distance, regional and freight transport were already at a standstill. Weselsky had repeatedly emphasized that he wanted to go for a strike vote early in the debate. According to his own statements, he primarily wants to avoid the railway going to the labor court. No strike vote is necessary for warning strikes. There are stricter requirements regarding duration and frequency.
The next round of negotiations is scheduled for Thursday and Friday next week. The railway had already announced that it wanted to keep the deadline as long as the GDL did not call for industrial action again on the respective days. A railway spokesman confirmed this after the announced ballot.
GDL calls on members to vote on rail strikes
7:29 p.m.: One day after its nationwide warning strike, the train drivers’ union GDL is launching a strike vote on longer and more frequent strikes. On Friday, the union called on its members at Deutsche Bahn, Transdev, City-Bahn Chemnitz and eight personnel service providers to vote. “We expect our members to give a clear answer to the employers’ stalling tactics,” explained GDL chairman Claus Weselsky.
Both sides actually wanted to continue their collective bargaining in Berlin on Thursday, but the railway canceled the talks because of the strike.
The GDL said in the evening that the union was ready to negotiate “on Friday” in Berlin. However, Deutsche Bahn “refused” to negotiate again. “In short: the employers are tactic and ignore the fact that their employees are fighting for improvements in the area of working hours,” explained the GDL with a view to its core demand for a reduction in weekly working hours.
The regular timetable applies again on the railway – warning strike ended
4 a.m.: After the warning strike by the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL), Deutsche Bahn wants to run according to the regular timetable again from this Friday. A spokeswoman said this will apply to long-distance and regional transport from Friday morning. “Since more travelers than usual are expected even after the end of the GDL strike, we recommend seat reservations on long-distance transport,” explained the spokeswoman.
In order to be able to fulfill the regular service on Friday, the emergency timetable still had to apply to all long-distance and parts of regional transport even after the warning strike ended on Thursday at 6 p.m. This enables a smooth start to operations on Friday morning.
Train drivers, train attendants, workshop employees and dispatchers were called upon to take part in the warning strike from Wednesday evening at 10 p.m. to Thursday at 6 p.m. There was a significantly reduced timetable.
There were failures on many routes in S-Bahn and regional transport in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, while other lines ran every two hours. Trains from other railway companies were also affected, such as the Mittelrheinbahn, which operates the RB 26 regional line between Mainz and Cologne.
Warning strike planned at Kiel University Hospital
Friday, November 17th, 3:30 a.m.: The Verdi union has called on employees at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) in Kiel to go on a warning strike on Friday in the collective bargaining dispute in the public sector of the federal states. “We assume that there may be restrictions on routine work and also on planned appointments in the UKSH,” said the district manager of the Verdi district of Kiel-Plön, Manuel Gellenthin. However, emergency care is guaranteed.
Verdi is demanding 10.5 percent more income for public sector employees in the federal states, but at least 500 euros more per month. Young talent should receive 200 euros more and trainees should be taken on for an unlimited period.
Over 8,000 teachers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania called on a warning strike
7:24 p.m.: The teachers’ union GEW has announced a warning strike at schools, vocational schools and universities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for November 28th. The union announced on Thursday that around 8,100 of the more than 13,400 teachers at schools and vocational schools were not civil servants and were therefore called for the warning strike.
The background is the ongoing collective bargaining round for the public sector in the federal states. According to the GEW, November 28th should be a nationwide so-called education strike day.
Collective bargaining between the unions and the collective bargaining community of the states has been ongoing since October 26th. According to the GEW, employers have so far not submitted any offers and have rejected the union’s demands. What is required is a 10.5 percent increase in salary, but at least 500 euros, a term of twelve months and a collective agreement for student employees at universities.
GDL warning strike ended – travel starts again
6:08 p.m.: The GDL’s 20-hour warning strike has officially ended. The service has been running again since 6 p.m., as a GDL spokesman confirmed upon request. However, passengers will still have to expect restrictions on rail traffic as the evening and night progresses. Only when operations begin early on Friday morning will everything in passenger transport nationwide be running largely smoothly again. The railway announced before the end of the warning strike that impacts on freight transport could still be expected in the coming days.
More information about the warning strikes on the next pages.
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