GDL strike ends early after peace agreement with Deutsche Bahn

Members of the German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) have signed a temporary peace deal with Deutsche Bahn, ending the union’s longest-ever strike 16 hours early. 

GDL make peace deal with Deutsche Bahn until March 3

The GDL has announced that the union has made a temporary peace deal with employer Deutsche Bahn, bringing members’ six-day strike to an end 16 hours earlier than originally planned.

While the nationwide strike, which affected all long-distance trains, regional and S-Bahn services run by Deutsche Bahn, was scheduled to last until 6pm on January 29, train drivers returned to work at 2am in the early hours of January 29.

The decision was made following negotiations with Deutsche Bahn over the weekend. GDL workers are demanding three specific things: 555 euros more for employees each month, a 3.000 euro bonus to offset inflation price rises and a reduction in working hours from 38 hours to 35 per week with no cut to wages.

So far, these demands have not been met and a final agreement has not been reached, but the new peace agreement will mean that GDL members won’t strike until March 3, 2024. In the meantime, negotiations will continue.

While the strike is over, Deutsche Bahn has said that there will continue to be some disruption to long-distance and regional services on January 29 as the network gets up and running again.

BVG announce transport strike for February 2

While the S-Bahn is back up and running in Berlin, employees at the local transport association, the BVG, have announced that they will strike from February 2. The BVG runs bus, tram and U-Bahn services in the capital.

According to ver.di, the union which represents BVG employees, further details about how long the strike will last and what emergency services may or may not run will be announced at 3pm on January 29.

Among other things, ver.di is demanding that employees get 33 holiday days regardless of their standing in the company, a 10-minute break for drivers at the end of driving each line and a mandatory rest period of at least 12 hours between two shifts.

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