NAfter four days of strike, there is early light at the end of the tunnel: As the FAZ learned from informed circles, the GDL is ending the strike in freight transport on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. and the strike in passenger transport on Monday morning at 2 a.m. The actions were actually supposed to last until 6 p.m. on Monday. The industrial action was originally supposed to last six days and only end on Monday evening. This means that passengers should be able to prepare for largely normal operations again on Monday. Several media outlets also reported on the early end of the strike on Saturday.
There will be no further strikes for the time being. According to information from the FAZ, the railway and the GDL have agreed on a peace obligation until March 3rd. From February 5th, the tariffs will be negotiated behind closed doors. According to the information, the aim is to reach a collective agreement by the beginning of March. It was already known on Saturday morning that both sides were in talks again.
The strike was the fourth strike since the collective bargaining dispute began. It started on Tuesday evening for freight traffic and on Wednesday morning for passenger traffic. In the past few days, the railway has offered around 20 percent of the usual long-distance service with an emergency timetable. In regional transport, the effects of the strike, as with previous GDL labor disputes, varied depending on the region.
With the agreement now reached, there is hope for an early solution to the hardened conflict for the first time in weeks. Collective bargaining between DB and GDL began at the beginning of November. After the first round, GDL boss Weselsky called for a warning strike. After the second round, he declared the talks had failed and initiated a strike vote. Since then, the signs have been pointing to escalation rather than negotiation.
The focus of the debate recently was the weekly working hours for shift workers: the GDL is calling for a reduction from 38 to 35 hours with the same wages. The railway has so far rejected this request.
Last week, the group presented an offer that includes 4.8 percent more money for employees from August and a further 5 percent more from April 2025. According to this DB offer, from January 2026, train drivers and train attendants can then decide between a further pay increase of 2.7 percent or one hour less work per week. The GDL was particularly bothered by this offer because of an additional restriction: the DB had made the option available on January 1, 2026, subject to the proviso that there would then be enough train drivers and train attendants employed by the group.
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