There is still no solution to the conflict between the Union of German Locomotive Drivers (GDL) and the Südwestdeutsche Landesverkehrs-GmbH (SWEG). Now there is a threat of train cancellations again – and at short notice.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Train travelers in the southwest have to be prepared for delays and train cancellations on Tuesday. In the conflict with the Südwestdeutsche Landesverkehrs-GmbH (SWEG), the Union of German Locomotive Drivers (GDL) announced another warning strike at short notice on Monday evening. The walkout is scheduled to last from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition, the GDL announced that it would initiate a ballot in the current week in order to expand the labor dispute. Almost two weeks ago, a first warning strike – at that time only in the morning – led to some failures.
Warning strikes at SWEG will affect passengers in several parts of the country. The company operates regional trains in the Ortenau and Breisgau regions, as well as the former Abellio regional lines between Stuttgart, Bruchsal and Heidelberg and between Tübingen and Heilbronn via the SWEG Bahn Stuttgart (SBS).
A warning strike by the GDL in Baden-Württemberg had already affected regional transport on September 8th. At SWEG, there were only isolated strike-related failures, as the company had announced. At SBS, the former Abellio Rail Baden-Württemberg railway company, 16 percent of the daily kilometers were not offered in the Stuttgart network.
The background to this is a conflict between GDL and SWEG: the train drivers’ union insists on not only wanting to negotiate a collective agreement for the subsidiary SBS with its 350 employees, but for all 1800 employees of SWEG. However, the employer side has so far rejected this. The demands of the GDL also include a one-time payment of 3000 euros. The company SWEG could not be reached for comment on Monday evening.
The SBS had previously announced salary increases. Irrespective of the negotiations with the GDL, the employees will receive an increase of 4.8 percent in the monthly table fees retroactively to the beginning of the year, as the company announced on Monday. In addition, there would be increases in allowances for working at night, on Sundays and public holidays. The company also pointed out that short-term defaults are possible. To be on the safe side, passengers should find out about their connections before boarding their journey.
