The strike by the train drivers’ union GDL can take place as planned. On Tuesday in Frankfurt, the Hessian State Labor Court rejected an application from Deutsche Bahn for an interim injunction against the strike. Rail customers have to prepare for numerous train cancellations and delays up to and including Friday.
The GDL started its strike action at DB on Tuesday at 6 p.m. In passenger transport, the strike was scheduled to begin at 2 a.m. early Wednesday morning. The planned end of the industrial action is Friday evening at 6 p.m. But the effects are also likely to be felt in the hours before and after.
In the first instance, the Frankfurt Labor Court had already rejected an interim injunction from the railways and Transdev on Monday evening and allowed the strike. The DB did not succeed in its argument that the GDL had lost its ability to negotiate collective agreements after the temporary workers’ cooperative “Fair Train” was founded. This examination was not possible in an expedited procedure, said the presiding judge Michael Horcher.
Deutsche Bahn assumes that the train drivers’ strike will affect millions of customers this week. The company has already drawn up an emergency timetable, which has been available online since Monday afternoon. Passengers can find out about their journey there now or via a specially set up free phone number (08000 996633).
During the GDL’s two previous warning strikes last year, around 80 percent of all long-distance trains were canceled. In regional transport, the effects were also far-reaching, but distributed very differently regionally. Experience has shown that many employees are organized by the GDL, especially in the eastern German states and the southwest.
Since the beginning of November, the GDL has been fighting with the railways and other railway companies for higher tariffs. The core of the current collective bargaining dispute is the union’s demand for a reduction in weekly working hours for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours. The railway considers this requirement to be unfulfillable. She is only willing to talk to the union about expanding existing working time models.
In the current tariff dispute, the GDL has already called for warning strikes twice, which lasted a maximum of 24 hours in passenger transport. In December, the union let its members vote on indefinite strikes. Around 97 percent of participants were in favor of this. Since then, longer strikes have been possible.
