Train drivers end strike early with Transdev but not at Deutsche Bahn

DPA
·1 min read
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The platforms at Altona station are empty after German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) has called for a strike to protest the current wage dispute with Deutsche Bahn and other companies from the middle of the week. Marcus Brandt/dpa
The platforms at Altona station are empty after German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) has called for a strike to protest the current wage dispute with Deutsche Bahn and other companies from the middle of the week. Marcus Brandt/dpa

The train drivers' union GDL will end its current strike with the railway company Transdev early and go back to work on Friday at noon (1100 GMT) instead of at 6 pm as originally planned.

The strike against the Deutsche Bahn however will continue for now.

Negotiations are to resume next week, the company and the union announced on Friday morning. Talks are scheduled for Monday, Transdev said.

The company operates regional rail services in North Rhine-Westphalia, the north-west, Saxony and Bavaria, among other rail lines.

"Our subsidiaries will do everything they can to minimise the restrictions and after-effects caused by the strike in order to be able to offer passengers regular transport services again as quickly as possible," Transdev said. The company has submitted a new offer.

The head of the GDL announced that Transdev had promised "to negotiate seriously on all core demands of the current round of collective bargaining."

The GDL's core demand at both companies is a reduction in working hours from 38 to 35 hours for shift workers with full pay compensation. Both the Deutsche Bahn and Transdev have rejected this.

The GDL had therefore previously declared the negotiations at both companies to have failed.