The transport sector in Germany is currently facing disruptions as locomotive drivers affiliated with the GDL union are on strike between 9-12 January. Deutsche Bahn (DB) has appealed against this decision without any luck, as the Hessian State Labour Court confirmed that the union’s actions are not prohibited. RailFreight.com reached out to various companies in the German rail freight sector to understand how these strikes can affect (directly or indirectly) different companies.
The decision of the Hessian State Labour Court confirms the ruling made by the Frankfurt am Main Labour Court on 9 January, validating the GDL strike. DB reached out to both courts claiming that the union was not able to conduct proper negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. The Hessian Court underlined that “it could not be established that the GDL was pursuing unlawful strike objectives with the strike or violating the obligation to maintain peace”.
When it comes to the impact of the strikes on the German rail freight industry, both direct and indirect consequences are expected. For those companies depending on DB’s locomotive drivers, these strikes mean some of their trains will not run. “We assume that some trains will not depart from the dispatch stations or will be parked on the line after departure. We will also have to cancel individual train departures due to disrupted wagon circulations”, a source from one of the companies contacted stated.
Indirect impact of GDL strike
On the other hand, as various sources confirmed, there are indirect impacts also for companies that are not directly connected to DB. First, the GDL union does not only cover locomotive drivers but also some employees of the German infrastructure manager InfraGO (formerly known as DB Netz). More specifically, a few signalmen are expected to strike, which might disrupt traffic for all operators.
In addition, as one of the sources explained, it will be difficult to predict where and when these strikes will take place. “It will be a guessing game”, they said. The day might start with a signalman who is not striking, but the person taking over the following shift might strike, leaving the signal box unattended and thus making the line unusable. This might thus lead operators to look for re-routing options on lines that may not be ready to pick up such volumes.
Another issue highlighted by one of the sources is that locomotive drivers not employed by DB might be affected as well. This is especially true for those drivers who are scheduled to replace their colleagues mid-journey. “The second driver needs to be at the location before the freight train arrives. To do so, they often travel by train to the location. However, if the passenger train is not running, how can the driver reach its destination?”. A source from another operator pointed out that they are organising road shuttles to solve the problem.
Worries are spreading
Whether or not companies will be impacted, directly or indirectly, by the GDL strikes, the great majority of the sources contacted expressed concerns over their frequency. GDL members, for example, already went on strike in mid-November and early December. In addition, for most of 2023, DB was negotiating for a new collective bargaining agreement with German trade union EVG. These negotiations led to two significant strikes, one in March and one in May. “We’re worried about the continuos strike waves in Germany as they are damaging the image of rail as a reliable mode of transport”, one source said. Another one added that InfraGO, being a public company, “must guarantee the unrestricted usability of the rail infrastructure”.
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