Germany: GDL train drivers’ union signs company agreement with SBB Cargo Deutschland rail company

A company agreement more advantageous than the federal framework agreement.  According to the GDL, SBB Cargo Deutschland opened the debate by saying that the company agreement had to be based on the wages determined in the federal agreement signed on march 16th by the GDL and private rail cargo companies (see our dispatch No.  110181).  But that was without allowing for the union’s opposition.  “The framework agreement determines the minimum standards.  We will not let train drivers, be they newly recruited or long-time collaborators, be forced to accept pay cuts.  Quite the contrary!  Their wages should also be increased” explained GDL leader Claus Weselsky, adding that, in the end, the union got what it wanted.  Thus, SBB Cargo Deutschland train drivers will get a €350 holiday bonus (there isn’t one in the framework agreement) as well as a Christmas bonus amounting to two months’ pay (twice as much as in the framework agreement).  They will also receive an extraordinary €1,000 bonus.  The company agreement will expire on June 30, 2012.
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s the minimum standards. We will not let train drivers, be they newly recruited or long-time collaborators, be forced to accept pay cuts. Quite the contrary! Their wages should also be increased” explained GDL leader Claus Weselsky, adding that, in the end, the union got what it wanted. Thus, SBB Cargo Deutschland train drivers will get a €350 holiday bonus (there isn’t one in the framework agreement) as well as a Christmas bonus amounting to two months’ pay (twice as much as in the framewo

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