(Reuters circulated the following on December 27.)
FRANKFURT — Deutsche Bahn AG and German train workers’ union GdL will resume their talks on a new wage agreement today, union head Manfred Schell told German news agency dpa.
Last week, GdL said it will resume strikes in the passenger and freight traffic on Jan 7, 2008, after it had abandoned wage negotiations with Deutsche Bahn.
As a result, German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee had successfully called on Deutsche Bahn and GdL to resume talks.
New talks had already taken place on a ‘working level’ on Saturday but it had not been top-level talks between Schell and Deutsche Bahn chief executive Hartmut Mehdorn, dpa reported, citing a union spokeswoman.
‘I will be there sporadically, but apart from that, we will further leave it to the wage experts,’ Schell said with regard to the fresh talks.
Schell did not specify when and where the talks would take place, but said that those who had been involved in negotiations on Saturday had reported a ‘good climate’.
‘There is progress, but this has nothing to do with a breakthrough,’ Schell added.