Railway and farmers' strike near Lanz: Is there still justice?

Yesterday the farmers, today the train drivers: Germany, which has traditionally not been fond of strikes, is suddenly stopping work en masse. A case for Markus Lanz.

Hamburg – In view of notoriously unpunctual trains, rail customers should rather go on strike, but instead the train drivers' union GDL is now paralyzing rail traffic. She joins the farmers who have been causing chaos on German roads since the beginning of the week and are even stoking fears of supply shortages in some places.

However, the consequences of a secret meeting reported by the investigative magazine could be much more dramatic Corrective currently reported. “Remigration” should take place after the AfD seizes power in whatever form, the mass expulsion of migrants and their supporters. SPD politician Ralf Stegner expressed concern about this report and warned against taking the plans of parts of the AfD, but also representatives from business, lightly and dismissing them as absurd madness: “Parts of the bourgeois milieu have begun to distance themselves from the “To avert the state.” Dorothea Siems, chief economist of the World confirmed that parts of the economy sympathize with the AfD, but are much more concerned about the right wing gaining strength – because their xenophobic rhetoric would damage Germany as a business location.

Criticism of the GDL – not of the farmers

The lack of infrastructure is also likely to be damaging notoriously late train, which is already being ridiculed by the neighbors and has caused deep cracks in the myth of German punctuality. While the farmers' strikes met with a great deal of understanding, Markus Lanz's criticism of the GDL became clear. Only a few months ago, the train drivers fought for wage increases, and now they are not only demanding more money, but also, in the medium term, a reduction in working hours to 35 hours and then even a four-day week, explained Siems. Especially given that trains are often canceled due to a lack of staff, these demands seem downright bizarre, not to mention the consequences for citizens who don't come to work.

A regular guest at Markus Lanz is economics professor and rail expert Christian Böttger, who, as always, explained the causes of the rail strike pointedly and precisely. The problem, according to Böttger, is once again a poorly crafted law, in this case the Unified Collective Bargaining Act, to which it is unclear who it applies to. The problem is that, in addition to the GDL, there is also the EVG, the railway and transport union. Representatives of the SPD even sit in the Bundestag, which makes reaching agreements even more difficult, especially since the lobbying activity on the part of the railway, according to Böttger, is notoriously intensive.

Stegener justifies bonus payments

With a gloomy expression on his face and the corners of his mouth permanently sticking downwards, Ralf Stegner listened to the rail expert's explanations, agreeing with the criticism of excessive lobbying, as well as the seamless transition from being a member of the Bundestag to areas of the economy, but that's just how democracy is there is little there. While Dorothea Siems heavily criticized what she saw as the GDL's excessive and unreasonable strikes, as well as the bonus payments that the railway bosses gave themselves, Stegner simply replied: That's the case everywhere. Which is true, but it doesn't make it any better here or there.

It seemed almost absurd when Christian Böttger discussed the railway's bonus system: bosses receive bonuses for achieving company goals. Unsurprisingly, the goals of punctuality and customer satisfaction were not achieved. In return, there were bonuses for employee satisfaction and the promotion of women, which meant that little more than hiring a few women was enough. This seemingly absurd system was also approved by the supervisory board.

It is hardly surprising that disillusionment with politics is increasing in the face of such decisions. The country's often seemingly absurd inertia undoubtedly plays its part when it comes to expanding the infrastructure, building wind turbines, expanding the fiber optic network, reducing bureaucracy, etc. Democracy is slow, compromises are difficult, replied Ralf Stegner, of course – who, with an almost Buddha-like calm, let all criticism of the political decision-makers roll off his back.

Open questions from Markus Lanz

The farmer Christian Lohmeyer, co-organizer of the farmers' protests, also criticized Markus Lanz on ZDF: “The biggest problem is the incredible volatility of this government.” On the other hand, Lohmeyer also called for the subsidies to be canceled, because a significant part of the agricultural subsidies were not paid at all the farmers, but to ministries or
organizations such as NABU, dike associations, in short, anyone who has land.