BERLIN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- After almost five months of wage negotiations marked by strikes, the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the train drivers' union GDL have reached an agreement, with details announced on Tuesday.
DB met the union's core demand of reducing the weekly working hours from 38 to 35 hours without loss of pay, the company said. The reduction is to be reached in several stages by 2029, with employees being able to decide whether they want to earn more money by working longer hours.
"The dispute was tough, but we have now been able to agree on an intelligent compromise," said DB's personnel director Martin Seiler. "Self-determined weekly working hours will make rail professions more attractive overall and make performance worthwhile."
In addition, there will be a pay rise of 420 euros (about 457.8 U.S. dollars) per month in two stages and an inflation compensation bonus of 2,850 euros, according to DB.
The collective agreement runs for 26 months until Dec. 31, 2025, followed by a two-month negotiation phase during which no strikes are possible. "With this wage agreement, we have achieved a historic breakthrough and are thus setting an example for other trade unions in this country," said GDL Chairman Claus Weselsky.
However, the conflict was "far from over," as the contract was not used for all DB subsidiaries, he stressed.
The patience of passengers was severely tested by a series of six strikes organized by the GDL, the longest of which lasted five days. Despite the union's unwillingness to make concessions and its announcement of strikes at shorter intervals, public support for the actions steadily waned.
The industry also came under increasing pressure in the face of even longer strikes in rail freight transport. The German Economic Institute estimated that a single day of a nationwide rail strike costs up to 100 million euros in economic output.
"The agreement reached in the rail strike before Easter is a good signal for rail passengers and the business location," German Minister of Transport Volker Wissing said on the social media platform X.
