New agreement signed for railway employees

In March 2003, a new collective agreement was concluded for 160,000 employees at Germany's Deutsche Bahn AG railway company. The settlement provides for a three-stage wage increase over 24 months and the adjustment in three steps of east German pay levels to 100% of west German levels by September 2006.

On 15 March 2003, the two major trade unions organising German railway workers - Transnet, affiliated to the German Trade Union Federation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, DGB), and Verkehrsgewerkschaft GDBA, affiliated to the German Federation of Career Public Servants (Deutscher Beamtenbund, DBB) - and the Employers' Association of Mobility and Transport Service Providers (Arbeitgeberverband der Mobilitäts- und Verkehrsdienstleister, Agv Move), representing the Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG) railway company, concluded a new collective agreement on pay covering some 160,000 employees working for DB AG.

The new agreement runs (retrospectively) for 24 months from 1 March 2003 to 28 February 2005 and provides a three-stage pay increase, as follows:

• all employees will receive two lump-sum payments totalling EUR 400 in 2003, with payments of EUR 200 in both April 2003 and December 2003; and

• all employees will receive a further pay increase of 3.2% on 1 May 2004.

The wage levels applying to eastern Germany will be adjusted to 100% of west German pay levels in three steps, as follows:

• on 1 September 2003 eastern wage levels will be adjusted from 90% to 93% of western levels;

• on 1 September 2005 the 'special wage table' (Entgelttabelle) applying to east German employees will cease to exist, and they will be covered by the western rates;

• each job grade is subdivided into three scales related to service within the grade and east German workers in the top scale will have to wait one more year to receive western rates. Thus full harmonisation of pay levels for all employees will be reached by 1 September 2006.

Apprentices will receive 50% of the lump-sum payments due in 2003 - ie EUR 100 in April 2003 and EUR 100 in December 2003. From 1 May 2004 onwards their remuneration will be fixed as a percentage of the basic pay rate (Ecklohn) for skilled employees. This provision will increase the remuneration for apprentices from 1 May 2004 by amounts ranging from 4.54% for west German apprentices in their first year to 9.44% for east German apprentices in their third year of apprenticeship. Apprentices' remuneration in eastern Germany will be brought into line with west German levels by 1 September 2005.

The pay negotiations had been accompanied by a number of protest meetings and warning strikes by rail employees. A third railway workers' union, the German Engine Drivers' Union (Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokführer, GDL) affiliated to the DBB, had insisted on parallel negotiations with DB AG about a separate collective agreement for engine drivers and conductors – a move disapproved of by the other two trade unions. GDL finally entered into a joint dispute resolution procedure which ended on 31 March 2003 with a recommendation to accept the results of the collective agreement concluded by the other two unions and a call by the GDL negotiation committee to follow this recommendation. Unexpectedly, this was rejected by GDL, which insisted on further negotiations to secure recognition by the employer and other two unions that GDL should be the lead union in future negotiations on all issues specifically affecting engine drivers. As long as no clarification is reached on this point, GDL will not accept the new agreement between DB AG and the other two unions and does not rule out calling further industrial action.