01/08/2024 04:18 (current 01/08/2024 04:18)
DB Human Resources Director, Martin Seiler ©APA/dpa
Ahead of the GDL train drivers' union's multi-day strike this week, Deutsche Bahn is hoping for a quick stop signal from the judges. On Sunday evening, following the announcement of the strike date, the company announced that it would apply to the Frankfurt Labor Court for an urgent request for an injunction to stop the strike. According to the group, the strike has no legal basis.
The GDL wants to go on strike in passenger transport between 2am on Wednesday and 6pm on Friday – in a week in which serious disruptions to road traffic are expected due to farmers' protests. Experience shows that, even before the strike, some trains were not running according to plan. Furthermore, it usually takes some time for traffic to return to normal.
With the strike, the union led by its president Claus Weselsky wants to increase pressure in the collective bargaining dispute, which has to do with money, but also with the reduction of working hours for shift workers with full pay. The railroad rejects this.
During two shorter GDL alert strikes last year, the railway had to cancel about 80% of its long-distance transport services. The effects on regional transport varied greatly depending on the region. In some federal states there were almost no trains running anymore. Unless strike participation differs fundamentally, similar effects as the two warning strikes can now be expected.
The railway announced on Sunday evening that it would draw up an emergency timetable for long-distance, regional and S-Bahn traffic, but that it would only contain a “very limited range of trains”. “Please avoid unnecessary travel during the GDL strike and postpone your trip to another time,” an online statement read.
According to a statement, within the scope of the emergency schedule, DB intends to use longer trains with more seats in long-distance transport to be able to take as many people as possible to their destination. “However, a trip cannot be guaranteed,” the company said.
“Not only is this strike absolutely unnecessary, but we also believe it is not legally permitted,” said Deutsche Bahn human resources director Martin Seiler. “Because the train drivers’ union lost its negotiating capacity when founding its temporary workers’ cooperative.”
GDL founded this cooperative called Fair Train in the summer. According to Weselsky, the company's objective is to steal train drivers from the railroad and rent them to railroad companies under their own tariff conditions. It is not clear whether this will work and especially whether there will be enough train drivers who will abandon the railway and work for Fair Train.
The railway sees a conflict of interest in the cooperative: From the group's point of view, GDL acts as both an employer and a union. This is why the railway recently took legal action against GDL at the state labor court in Hesse.
Weselsky criticized the lawsuit on Sunday as a “smoking gun” and dismissed the accusation. It shows “the desperation of a socially alienated employer who is not afraid of any means, however absurd, to eliminate the strong GDL”.
An injunction from the Labor Court could be taken quickly in expedited proceedings. Judges could consider the matter as early as Monday.