Frankfurt/Main. The train drivers’ strike at Deutsche Bahn cannot be stopped by legal means at the moment. The Hessian State Labor Court in Frankfurt on Friday in the second instance rejected an injunction requested by the railway against the German Locomotive Drivers Union (GDL).
The group had previously announced that it would have the ruling examined by the regional labor court in the second instance. “We were aware that the hurdles in an urgent procedure are very high and that the right to strike in Germany is very well protected with good reason,” said a spokeswoman. “Nevertheless, we see it as our responsibility, in the interests of our customers, to leave no stone unturned to end the strike.”
With the injunction, the railway wanted to stop the train drivers’ strike, which the GDL had extended to passenger transport on Thursday. The labor court rejected the application. Previously, the attempt by the presiding judge, Volker Schulze, to bring both sides back to the negotiating table with a settlement had failed.
The GDL had again refused to enter into talks before all of its demands from May were met. The labor dispute is expected to continue on Friday. The strike is said to last until Tuesday morning.
Weselsky turned down a new offer from the railway
The GDL chairman Claus Weselsky had previously turned down an improved rail tariff offer because it should not apply to all GDL members. According to his presentation, the state-owned company demands that the scope of a new collective agreement be limited to drivers, as before. “This makes it clear that DB wants to withdraw some of the GDL members’ constitutional rights,” the trade unionist told “Spiegel”. This threatens to split the union with first and second class members.
“The aim of the railway board is to destroy the existence of the GDL”, Weselsky had already declared on Thursday morning in Leipzig. With around 38,000 members, the GDL sees itself in fierce competition with the larger rail and transport union EVG. According to the collective bargaining law passed in 2015, only the collective agreement of the larger employee representation should apply to two unions in one company. This principle is called “one company – one collective agreement”. In the majority of the 300 or so railway operations, this is the EVG from the railway’s point of view.
The GDL, which is actually anchored in the driving business, sees itself forced to expand its influence to other group subsidiaries – and now wants to regulate the conditions for workshop employees as well as for employees in administration or the rail infrastructure. This is reminiscent of the disputes in 2014/2015. At that time, the union wanted to extend its collective bargaining sovereignty to train attendants and shunting engine drivers – and after eight waves of strikes, it was successful.
“Our demands have been on the table since May”
The railway suspects political and legal objectives behind the five-day strike of the GDL, which cannot be regulated in a collective agreement. Also in November 2014, the railway sued against ongoing strikes by the GDL in the collective bargaining round at the time. At the time, Deutsche Bahn argued that the industrial action would cause disproportionately high damage – in vain. The GDL won two instances before the labor courts in Frankfurt. After the triumph, union chief Weselsky surprisingly broke off the ongoing strike. At that time he declared: “I am not at this point as a winner, but as the one who has defended the basic rights of the engine driver and the train attendants.”
Before the current court decision, the GDL boss was confident of victory in the “Spiegel” interview: “What can we be accused of? Our claims have been on the table since May, so far it seems as if we had done everything right. 2015 we have Striked 109 hours straight. ” The courts would have considered that admissible.
The railway made a new offer to the union on Wednesday and took up an important demand: This year, employees are to receive a corona bonus of up to 600 euros. Weselsky also rejects the content of the offer and complains, for example, that there should be no wage increase this year.
Restraining orders against strikes are very rare
From the point of view of the tariff expert Hagen Lesch from the employer-related institute of the German economy, the GDL is again fighting for its status as a tariff partner of the railway. Accordingly, Weselsky could have secured the status quo last year in an arbitration that ultimately failed. Then one could have found another regulation like 2015, with which the coexistence of EVG and GDL had been secured – waiving the regulations of the collective bargaining law.
German courts very rarely issue injunctions against strikes. One example is the decision of the Frankfurt Regional Labor Court, which in September 2015 stopped a strike by the Cockpit Association at Lufthansa in a second instance. The pilots had struck against the relocation of positions to the subsidiary Eurowings, which the tariff cannot be regulated at all, the presiding judge Michael Horcher had found at the time.
The railway passengers have no choice but to wait and see. The replacement schedule started stable on Thursday, said the train. The company wanted to run around a quarter of the long-distance trains again. A basic offer of 40 percent is aimed for in regional and S-Bahn traffic. “The main strikes are in the east and in some metropolitan regions. Here, in particular, there are stronger restrictions.”
East particularly hard hit by the strike
In Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, numerous trains were canceled on Thursday. Some drove with considerable delay. According to Deutsche Bahn, around 25 percent of the trains were in long-distance traffic. In regional traffic it was a good 15 percent in the three countries. The S-Bahn were also affected. But here there were at least some connections with greater frequency and shorter routes.
“The replacement schedule is stable,” said a railway spokeswoman who is responsible for the three federal states. She called on travelers to find out more about their connections on the website bahn.de and to plan more time.
In Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, the effects of the strike will again be particularly felt in regional traffic, emphasized the railway spokeswoman. The GDL is traditionally more powerful in the east. The union has been on strike nationwide for five days since Thursday morning.
Replacement schedule also applies on weekends
In Saxony, passengers must expect disruptions on the RB113 and RE50 lines between Leipzig and Geithain or Leipzig and Dresden, as well as on the S2, S3, S4 and S5 S-Bahn trains in and around Leipzig and the S1 and S3 lines in and around Dresden. In Thuringia there are disruptions on the RE2, RE3 and RB52 lines between Erfurt and Kassel, Altenburg and Leinefelde and the RE1 line between Göttingen and Glauchau.
The S2 lines between Leipzig and Jüterbog, the S3 line between Halle and Leipzig and the S5 / S5X line between Zwickau and Halle are restricted in Saxony-Anhalt. There is also a replacement timetable for the S1 line between Schönebeck and Wittenberge and for the S8 between Halle and Zahna / Jüterbog. Regionally, the RE1, RE7, RE13, RE18, RE20, RE30, RE40, RB76 and RB78 lines operate with restrictions. All other lines are completely eliminated in the three federal states.
The rail spokeswoman emphasized that the replacement schedule also applies on the weekend when many returnees from vacation are expected. But no more trains would be used. “The planning is already a great challenge. However, many train drivers who do not strike have agreed to take on shifts even though they are actually free.” In Saxony and Thuringia, the summer holidays end at the weekend.
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