In the collective bargaining dispute with the Südwestdeutsche Landesverkehrs-GmbH, the Union of German Locomotive Drivers tightened the tone. Now another strike lasting several days is pending – and a solution does not seem to be in sight.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Train travelers in the southwest will have to adjust to disabilities for several days from Thursday. The reason is a five-day strike at the state-owned Südwestdeutsche Landesverkehrs-GmbH (SWEG) and its subsidiary SWEG Bahn Stuttgart GmbH (SBS), which the German Locomotive Drivers Union (GDL) announced on Wednesday evening. The walkout is expected to last from 2 a.m. Thursday to 2 a.m. Tuesday.
In the past few weeks, the GDL has repeatedly called for warning strikes and, after a ballot, for strikes at SWEG – most recently from last Friday to Monday. According to the company, the effects were limited, only in the SBS network around Stuttgart were there major restrictions. When asked, SWEG initially did not comment on the current strike call.
The collective bargaining dispute is about the fact that the GDL would like to negotiate a collective agreement not only for SBS in the future, but for the entire SWEG group with its 1800 employees. However, SWEG does not want to take over the former Abellio Rail Baden-Württemberg – today SBS – permanently. The Abellio daughter got into financial difficulties at the end of 2021. The company then took over the state-owned SWEG for an initial period of two years.
“We don’t want GDL in our parent company,” SWEG supervisory board chairman Uwe Lahl wrote to GDL federal boss Claus Weselsky last week. The supervisory board had to decide between buying SBS and peacekeeping. It has been clear since Friday: SWEG does not want to make an offer for the SBS. Reason are the “incalculable strike measures of the GDL”.
Weselsky replied on Wednesday: “It is a scandal of the highest order when a company attacks the statutory right to strike with such perfidious means.” By submitting a negotiable offer for both companies, the collective bargaining conflict could be quickly ended. “Actually, the SWEG and the SBS should have learned from the experience of other railway companies that we GDLers have staying power.” Weselsky is expected to attend a GDL protest in Stuttgart on Friday.
