Blow to Solidarity

German Transportation Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee on Sunday, Jan. 13 proudly brandished a sheet of paper containing a few scribbles and two signatures -- one of the head of Deutsche Bahn, Hartmut Mehdorn, and the other of Manfred Schell, boss of the train drivers' union, GDL.

It was proof of a breakthrough after 10 months of at times tough and bitterly fought wage negotiations. The paper was worthy of being part of the "Museum of History," Tiefensee joked. But he wasn't wrong. The wage deal really does make history -- it may just have paved the way to the end of social peace in Germany.

The country is home to around 40 million employees. But only 9,000 of them are train drivers. They have the power to paralyze rail traffic in Germany and they shamelessly used it. There are others who are in the driving seat, too -- pilots, air traffic controllers, doctors.

Of course it's right that the train drivers who were underpaid until now should get more money. But because at the same time they will work less, the message that the deal gives out is -- more money, less work. If that becomes the norm, that would spell the end of Germany. No labor union official can probably explain how the German economy will keep up with global competition with such a motto.

That explains the muted reaction from the country's top labor boss. The railway wage deal is a noteworthy start to the beginning of wage negotiations in 2008 said Michael Sommer, head of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), the main union umbrella group. At the same time, Sommer bemoaned the GDL's approach to wage negotiations.

That's hardly surprising. The train drivers' success is bound to spur other privileged groups and in the end that could spell the end for the traditional system based on umbrella labor contracts for whole industries or firms. Though it's considered by some to be outdated, the system is an important pillar of social partnership which forms the fundament for the German economic model. It's also the basis for one of the most valuable goods in the country -- social peace.

The future looks bleak. Large trade unions such as IG Metall, which represents employees of the metal-bashing and electronics sector, and Verdi, which represents more than 1,000 professions in the service sector, are fragmenting into ever smaller labor groups. They're wrangling with other splinter trade unions -- as was the case with the train drivers' union -- and negotiating separate wage deals for each group.

That's a recipe for strikes and could lead to ever more acrimony even within members of the same union. In the end, only the bigger unions will benefit.

The whole labor dispute could also prove to be a tinderbox -- after all, can a train driver look in the eye a conductor traveling with him and have a good conscience? Though both work for the same company, one will now get a wage hike of 11 percent, the other only of four.

The train drivers' union, GDL, has betrayed a key trade union principle -- the principle of solidarity. Shortly before he retires, GDL boss Manfred Schell has erected a tombstone to one of Germany's most cherished traditions. My recommendation for the inscription -- here lays Germany's consensus-based model.

Henrik Böhme is a business editor at DW-RADIO (sp)