GDL and DB Butting Heads & more – 4th Jan 2024

Hallo from BA! This is the Rorshok Germany Update from the 4th of January twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what's going down in Germany.

Let’s start this year off with interesting news from the ongoing labor dispute between the Union of Locomotive Drivers, or GDL, and the National Train Company, or DB. The two parties have just started a legal battle because DB is contesting the GDL's status as a union and, thus its ability to legally call for strikes or negotiate contracts for its members.

The GDL founded a temporary employment company in June of twenty twenty-three. The idea was to get GDL members to quit their jobs at the DB, and then get hired by the temp company, which would then “lend” them back to DB. The union-run, collectively owned temp company would offer their new hires the working conditions the union was demanding from DB, thus creating strong leverage for the GDL in the negotiations with DB. The DB is now contesting this highly creative move in court. Outside of the legal battle, the DB has consistently refused to negotiate with the GDL and, despite the court case, strikes are expected for next week.

We’re staying on track. The rampant inflation in early twenty twenty-one saw an unprecedented move in German transportation policy: Affordable public transport. During the summer of twenty twenty-two, the federal government funded a nine-euro monthly ticket that allowed travelers to use regional and municipal public transport across the country. However, then the government discontinued the ticket. Still another one emerged but not as good. It was called The Germany-Ticket, it was available in twenty twenty-three, and it cost forty-nine euros a month. However, now the government is debating if it can continue funding this ticket in twenty twenty-four.

Cutbacks on public spending are creating discontent at every turn. Since the coalition in Berlin reached a compromise on the budget for twenty twenty-four in late December, farmers have protested against the cutting of subsidies for diesel used in farming and against the introduction of taxes on farming vehicles. Lobby organizations for farmers have called for further demonstrations, including tractor roadblocks of highways and tractor “marches” in all state capitals for next week. The position of the farmers’ organizations is that, without subsidies, the already difficult situation for the agricultural sector will become even more precarious, and food prices in German supermarkets will rise even further.

Moving on to climate change, greenhouse emissions have sunk by a surprising ten percent in twenty twenty-three compared to twenty twenty-two. While this is certainly good news for the planet, the researchers of the Agora thinktank published a study urging careful optimism. They said that the main reason for the reduction of emissions in twenty twenty-three is the cut-back on industrial production due to inflation, meaning that generally less energy is being used; thus coal power stations produce less energy domestically. However, the import of nuclear energy from abroad and the outsourcing of production have increased. So the formerly “German emissions” are transferred to foreign countries’ emission balances. But the good news is that the percentage of green energy in the grid has risen as well.

Talking about emissions and climate change: Flooding due to heavy rainfall continues to be a major problem for several states in Germany. Flooding is affecting at least eight out of sixteen states. Meteorologists said that the rain might continue until Saturday the 6th. Several areas of Lower Saxony, Thuringia, and Saxony-Anhalt dikes are in danger of breaking. In the area surrounding Bremen, at least one dike has broken this week. The chancellor has visited some of the affected regions, and the executive has pledged all the support the state governments need to fight flooding. Even though there are no known plans to pause the debt brake for financial support, the government’s press secretary has stated that if needed, that coalition will do everything in its power to support the affected areas and people.

Still on climate change, a Frankfurt court has sentenced a member of the Last Generation to two months in prison on probation. Last Generation is an international organization that uses civil disobedience to protest politicians' alleged inaction against climate change. Carla Hinrichs, a speaker for the Last Generation, has been found guilty of coercion because she glued herself to a street, causing a traffic jam. This wasn’t a new kind of demonstration as one of their forms of protest is gluing themselves to roads, blocking them to traffic. Law enforcement has reprimanded the activists. In some instances, the group members have been taken in “preventive custody” and many residences connected to the group have been searched, citing “membership in a terroristic organization” as a reason.

From civil disobedience to - possibly - more radical forms of protests. The attorney general’s office decided to launch an investigation into possible “unconstitutional” sabotage. Several small holes were discovered on an LNG pipeline that is currently under construction in Schleswig-Holstein. There are currently no statements as to who could be possible subjects, but two actors seem to be in the crosshairs: Either climate activists or whoever blew up Northstream II pipeline. In August climate activists blocked the construction site. And in September currently unknown actors blew up the gas pipeline connecting Germany to Russian gas supplies via the North Sea.

Now back to the news, the liberal Free Democratic Party, or FDP, had an internal vote of confidence on whether or not to remain in the governing coalition that passed with a slight majority in favor of remaining. Though the vote is not legally binding to party leadership, it puts them under pressure, because it showcased how slim the support for the coalition and the FDP’s role inside the party is. Current polls also put pressure on party leadership as there’s a chance that if an election was held right now, it would not surpass the five percent threshold needed to get into parliament.

And to close this edition, an update on an issue we reported on in our last episode: Three of the five arrested in connection with the suspected plan for a terrorist attack on the cologne dome have been released. A court ordered their release from police custody due to insufficient proof that they posed a serious threat to public security. The heavy security measures around the dome continue as the police assume that there is a wider terrorist network still at work planning an attack.

Aaand that's it for this week!

Happy New Year from the Rorshok family! These are our wishes for twenty twenty-four: 1) that you tell your friends about us. 2)... Noup, that’s about it.

Remember you can help us financially with the link in the show notes.

Ciao!