GERMANY: Train drivers in new pay strike

German train drivers locked in a long-running pay dispute with rail operator Deutsche Bahn began a 30-hour strike on Thursday (October 25) extending a period of serious disruption to rail services across the country. A series of one-day stoppages has already delayed millions of commuters and other travellers this month and prompted the German transport ministry to warn of a potentially disastrous impact on Europe's biggest economy. The GDL union, representing some 34,000 drivers, began walkouts at 2 a.m. (midnight GMT), escalating a heated pay dispute with Deutsche Bahn that has dragged on for months. The action is due to end at 8 a.m. on Friday. The latest stoppages affect only local and regional services, as in earlier cases. Walkouts on long-distance and goods services are still subject to a court ban. Deutsche Bahn said early on Thursday around 50 percent of local and regional train services were running in western Germany, while eastern Germany had been hit harder. Deutsche Bahn spokesman Karl-Friedrich Rausch estimated the strike was costing up to ten million euros a day. The GDL says its train drivers are underpaid compared with counterparts elsewhere in Europe and is seeking pay rises of up to 31 percent and an independent collective labour agreement. It has rejected deals struck between Deutsche Bahn and two other, larger rail unions for pay increases of 4.5 percent. It has also refused an offer for a 10 percent wage hike and a one-off payment of 2,000 euros (2,845 U.S. dollars). Rail strikes are rare in Germany and a survey by the Forsa institute for Stern magazine published on Wednesday suggested Germans are losing patience with the train drivers. Travellers have been left stranded on platforms and some are becoming increasingly frustrated at long waits. Deutsche Bahn, which the government wants to partly privatise by 2009, is Europe's largest rail and transport firm and carries more than five million passengers daily on some 28,000 trains.

ITN Source | October 25, 2007

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