Negotiations break down as Deutsche Bahn, EVG fail to reach agreement

 

BERLIN – In the collective bargaining dispute at German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB), the company said late Tuesday that the railway and transport union EVG’s rejection of the latest offer was “incomprehensible.”

“The union is not showing any willingness to make concessions and is not proposing any solutions. It simply stubbornly insists on its initial demands,” said DB personnel director Martin Seiler.

In a statement late Tuesday, Deutsche Bahn rejected further negotiations. “This is pointless at the moment because the EVG is not moving an inch,” Seiler was quoted as saying.
The company now wants to “comprehensively assess the overall situation” and discuss further steps.

The EVG rejected the company’s recent offer late on Tuesday evening and called on the employers to hold further negotiations in Berlin on Wednesday.

“Essential points of our demands have still not been met,” said negotiator Kristian Loroch. “What is currently on the table is socially unjust.”

Loroch said further negotiations were in the interest of the company because “as long as [the union is] sitting at the negotiating table, there will be no strike.”

Further strikes or even a ballot, which could lead to indefinite strikes, are therefore not off the table, he said.

The EVG has already called two strikes in the current collective bargaining dispute, bringing rail traffic in Germany largely to a standstill.

The union cancelled a third planned 50-hour strike at short notice after reaching a settlement with the rail operator at the Frankfurt labour court on one of the sticking points in the negotiations.