Deutsche Bahn (DB) and trade union EVG finalised an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for 192,000 workers. DB significantly increased its offer, which will lead to pay rises of up to 9.1 per cent.
The breakdown of the deal is the following: a 2 per cent increase from 1 July 2025, another 2.5 per cent rise from 1 July 2026 and a 2 per cent raise of the supplementary allowance from 2027. This will be applied to all eligible employees, for a total of 6.5 per cent more wages over the next couple of years.
Shift workers’ wages, additionally, will be increased by 2.6 per cent from 2026, EVG specified. Thus, shift workers at DB will see their paychecks 9.1 per cent bigger by 2027. All workers will also get a one-off payment of 200 euros in April. There are some additional advantages for EVG members which, over the duration of the deal, will receive three payments of 156 euros each as a ‘recreation allowance’.
DB Cargo
In its initial proposal, DB wanted to retain the right to deviate from the CBA for DB Cargo employees, as the rail freight operator is undergoing a massive restructuring. EVG was vocally against this measure from the beginning. However, after negotiations, this initiative was ditched. “The special right of termination demanded by the employer does not exist for Cargo”, EVG pointed out.
Quicker than usual
One of the goals set out by EVG and DB was to try and secure an agreement before the German federal elections planned for the coming weekend. The deal was approved in the evening of Sunday 16 February. Negotiations started at the end of January and a solution was found relatively quickly, especially compared to previous years. The duration of the CBA was also reduced. DB was pushing for 37 months, but EVG managed to take it down to 33.