Source: AFP
German rail company Deutsche Bahn and train drivers’ union GDL have reached an agreement on a pay dispute that has sparked months of crippling strikes across the country, the union said on Monday.
“The German Train Drivers Association (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.
More details will be announced at a press conference on Tuesday, the association said.
A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed to AFP that an agreement had been reached.
Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption to huge numbers of passengers.
The strikes have often lasted several days and have also disrupted freight traffic, with the most recent strike in mid-March.
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In late January, rail traffic was paralyzed for five days on the national network in one of the largest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.
The GDL is demanding more money for its members as well as a 35 hour week for the same pay as the current 38 hour week.
Deutsche Bahn had recently offered up to 13 percent more pay, as well as the possibility of reducing the working week to 37 hours from 2026.
Europe’s biggest economy has been facing industrial action for months as workers and management in many sectors fight for terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.
The strikes have worsened an already bleak economic picture, with the German economy shrinking by 0.3% in all of last year.
Rising pressure
Last year’s departures cost Deutsche Bahn about 200 million euros ($217 million), according to company estimates, which overall posted a net loss for 2023 of 2.35 billion euros.
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Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers have had the fewest strikes.
But as of late 2022, the country has seen increasing labor unrest, while real wages have fallen by 4% since the start of the war in Ukraine.
German airline Lufthansa is also embroiled in pay disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.
Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s operations in recent weeks and will affect first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.
Airport security staff have also made several walkouts since January.
Some politicians have called on Germany to introduce rules to limit critical infrastructure such as rail transport from industrial action.
But Chancellor Olaf Solz rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written into the constitution… and this is a democratic right that unions and workers have fought for”.
The strikes have piled increasing pressure on the coalition government between Solz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent polls.
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The far-right AfD is enjoying a boost in popularity amid turmoil with elections in three key former East German states due later this year.
Source: AFP