You have to give it to Claus Weselsky. He made himself honest. It has long been aimed at causing the greatest possible damage to rail customers instead of protecting them as best as possible. He now says this openly.
“This means that the railway is no longer a reliable means of transport,” said Weselsky when he announced wave strikes last week. His train drivers are supposed to stop work at ever shorter intervals – with ever shorter notice periods. The goal: Nobody should be able to rely on the train anymore.
Weselsky wants to blackmail politicians
Weselsky is harassing the citizens and economy of this country with uncertainty. Nevertheless, labor courts in two instances have allowed the wave strikes. It is therefore time for the federal government to intervene. She must not stand idly by and watch the GDL boss’s nothing-works-anymore strategy. It is time to adjust the right to strike.
The critical railway infrastructure must function reasonably reliably even during strike times. Passenger representatives have long been calling for a law that would require unions to announce strikes on buses and trains in good time and to maintain a minimum offer. There is already mandatory emergency operation during strikes in hospitals. Weselsky’s behavior shows that this is also desperately needed in the transport sector.
The Basic Law and labor courts have rightly given unions a lot of leeway when it comes to calling industrial action. They need strikes to reinforce workers’ wage demands. Unfortunately, in many industries today the power of unions is not too great, but rather too small.
A far-reaching restriction of the right to strike because of Weselsky would therefore be disproportionate. For example, mandatory prior arbitration – as demanded by the SME Union – would take the impact off strikes.
But labor disputes should always be directed against the company on strike, not primarily against citizens and uninvolved companies. That’s why Weselsky is now forcing politicians to act. Just out of self-protection, the traffic light coalition should force the unions to show a certain amount of consideration for the population during strikes in critical infrastructure.
Because Weselsky is trying to do nothing other than blackmail politicians. With his wave strikes he wants to cause so much discontent among citizens that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) will force the railway board to give in quickly. A mandatory emergency offer in critical infrastructure would be a signal to Weselsky and his imitators that politicians cannot be blackmailed.
Weselsky doesn’t care about the railway’s deficits
The economic situation of Deutsche Bahn does not actually allow Weselsky to demand a significant wage increase and a reduction in working hours at the same time. The company is making high losses in freight transport, is making a profit in regional transport and is likely to have a huge problem in long-distance transport. The DB has ordered hundreds of additional ICE trains, even though the ailing network can’t actually handle any more rail traffic.
Nevertheless, Weselsky is making demands that go beyond the already high levels achieved by other unions recently. That is his right. But then he has to expect resistance from his negotiating partners.
With a functioning social partnership, the unions themselves ensure that their demands remain viable for the company concerned. Ultimately, the companies must then be able to earn the required wages. But does this rule also apply to state-owned companies?
It is probably not without reason that labor disputes are increasingly focusing on critical infrastructure. Politicians should therefore now send an important signal to the unions: Fight for high wages! But don’t paralyze public life! Even strikes that are announced in good time are painful for the railway, but they are more bearable for passengers.
Source: Tagesspiegel
I work as a news website author and mostly cover the opinion section. I have been writing since I was a teenager, and have always enjoyed telling stories. I studied journalism at university and loved every minute of it. After graduating, I decided to move to London and take up a position with a Global Happenings. It has been an incredible experience, learning about all sorts of different cultures and meeting some amazing people. My goal is to continue learning and growing in my career so that I can provide readers with the best possible content.
