A 14-hour train drivers’ strike was under way in Germany Wednesday, throwing local, regional and long-distance rail services into disarray.
As many as 5,000 members of German train drivers’ union GDL will participate in the strike, which forms a part of a push for a 5-per-cent pay hike and two hours less of work a week, GDL spokesman Claus Weselsky said.
The strike is set to last until 4 am (0200 GMT) Thursday and is likely to have a significant knock-on effect on rail services throughout Thursday.
Deutsche Bahn described the strike – the second nationwide stoppage called by the union within eight days – as “completely unreasonable,” saying that the union was putting priority on building up its power base instead of focusing on reasonable negotiations.
Ulrich Weber, chief human resources officer at Deutsche Bahn, said the company had made plans to discuss a solution to the pay dispute Wednesday and Thursday.
“And now, just hours before these talks were supposed to start, the GDL calls a strike? That is audacious and shameless,” he said.
Weselsky said on Wednesday that the criticism was completely unwarranted, referring to the latest work stoppage as a “fundamental right.”
Weselsky said that the union had provided notification of the strike on Tuesday at 6 pm in keeping with advance notification procedures. He would not say if more strikes were likely in the near future.
GNA
