Germany bracing for transport disruption amid weeklong rail strike
Commuters, travelers and companies depending on Germany’s railway network brace for transportation disruption as drivers with Germany’s Deutsche Bahn announced a week-long strike amid failed negotiations on wage.
The German engine drivers’ union, GDL, has called on more than 19,000 train drivers, switch-yard engineers and conductors to halt work through May 10 for a total of 127 hours.
Freight train drivers stopped work on Monday afternoon, while passenger train drivers will follow the example as of 2:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) on Tuesday.
On Monday, Claus Weselsky, the GDL chief, defended the walkout, telling journalists at a news conference in Berlin that Deutsche Bahn was “responsible for the escalation” of the strike, because its management had been involved in discussions for months without aiming for a solution.
Deutsche Bahn “does not know where it stands,” Weselsky said, adding that the German rail company had taken “one step forward and two steps backward” when it refused to strike a deal with GDL in February this year.
The GDL’s points of contention with Deutsche Bahn are a five-percent pay increase, a reduction in working hours from 39 to 37, as well as the right to independently represent staff such as train stewards.
“This strike is completely inappropriate and totally over the top,” Deutsche Bahn said in its statement criticizing the strike.
It also stated that the GDL will “cause massive harm [not only] to rail passengers, Deutsche Bahn and its employees, but also to the German economy.”
Meanwhile, Norbert Barthle, the federal transport minister, has criticized the weeklong stoppage, which will inconvenience millions of commuters across Germany, as “intolerable.” Germany’s rail network reportedly ferries about 5.5 million passengers a day.
The GDL’s recent strike is the eighth of its kind since January. A 43-hour industrial action last month cost the German economy up to 100 million euros (USD 111 million) a day.
The move also brought two-thirds of Germany’s long-distance trains to a standstill.
MP/HSN/SS
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