German train drivers reach agreement with Deutsche Bahn, no more strikes

The German state railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the train drivers’ union GDL have reached an agreement on a new labor contract after a long-running conflict. This means that new strikes are a thing of the past.

The new collective labor agreement includes one of the most important demands of the drivers, namely a working week of 35 hours with retention of salary instead of 38 hours. This shorter working week will be gradually introduced until 2029. DB had proposed a 36-hour working week, but the drivers did not want to make any concessions on that.

Billion euros in damage

The wage will increase in two steps by 420 euros per month and employees will receive a one-off allowance of 2,850 euros. As part of the deal, GDL has agreed not to declare any new strikes for the next two years.

The months-long conflict, during which train drivers struck six times, affected millions of travelers and cost the German economy one billion euros in damage. The strikes, sometimes lasting for days, affected not only passenger traffic, but also freight traffic on the railways.

These strikes also disrupted international train traffic to and from the Netherlands. For example, the intercity between Berlin and the Netherlands did not run and several ICE International trains were canceled.