- Title: GERMANY: German rail strike disrupts travel nationwide
- Date: 12th October 2007
- Summary: STRIKING DRIVERS ARRIVING INSIDE TRAIN DRIVERS IN STRIKE MEETING SPOKESPERSON TRAIN DRIVERS UNION HANS-JOACHIM KERNCHENSPEAKING ON PHONE, LOOKING AT COMPUTER SCREEN TRAIN DRIVER READING STRIKE PAMPHLET (SOUNDBITE) (German) SPOKESPERSON TRAIN DRIVERS UNION HANS-JOACHIM KERNCHEN, SAYING: "We got the message that the strike is to be conducted fully until midnight. We are not
- Embargoed: 27th October 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Travel / Tourism,Social Services / Welfare
- Reuters ID: LVABZUGTEQVJ5ZZICN0S1M7XBZGI
- Story Text: German train drivers hold a full-day of strike, severely disrupting transport for millions of passengers German train drivers held a full-day strike on Friday (October 12), severely disrupting transport for millions of passengers and causing delays for commuters. Underground trains and trams were overcrowded and delayed.
The GDL union, representing some 34,000 drivers, began walkouts on regional services at 2 a.m. (midnight GMT), escalating a heated wage dispute with national rail operator Deutsche Bahn that has dragged on for months.
"We got the message that the strike is to be conducted fully until midnight," GDL-spokesperson Hans-Joachim Kerncehn told Reuters.
"We are not to break the strike because of a simple discussion, we will wait until we get an agreement on tariff or at least a draft of an agreement as we demand, we then decide if it is worth negotiating or not."
Deutsche Bahn said around half of regional services were cancelled, and that many travellers appeared to be using alternative means of transport. The rail operator described long-distance rail services as "stable".
The GDL said on Thursday (October 11) it was resorting to strikes because Deutsche Bahn had not improved its pay offer. Deutsche Bahn said the short notice gave it no time to come up with alternative scheduling plans.
Regional trains that did run were fuller than usual, as were buses.
There were also bigger-than-usual traffic jams on the drive into Frankfurt and Hamburg, Reuters eyewitnesses said.
Deutsche Bahn board member Karl-Friedrich Rausch said the union's move was "incredible" and that the GDL was solely to blame for "the foreseeable chaos" in short-haul travel.
"I expect it will stay like this all day. The union announced they will conduct these useless strikes until midnight. We will just have to get through it. After that we will have to clean up the mess and tomorrow morning, we can take up traffic as per usual again," Rausch said.
The union says its train drivers are underpaid compared with counterparts elsewhere in Europe.
It has rejected agreements reached between Deutsche Bahn and two other larger rail unions for pay increases of 4.5 percent and wants a separate deal with raises of up to 31 percent.
Rail strikes are relatively rare in Germany but passengers faced some disruption due to industrial action over the summer and GDL drivers held a three-hour strike last Friday (October 12).
However, a survey for Stern magazine showed on Wednesday that 55 percent of Germans sympathise with the strikers.
GDL boss Manfred Schell met Deutsche Bahn chief executive Hartmut Mehdorn in Berlin on Thursday to try to resolve the conflict, but no deal was reached.
A Deutsche Bahn spokesman said after the meeting the rail operator would submit a new pay offer by Monday.
Deutsche Bahn, which the government wants to partially privatise by 2009, is Europe's largest rail and transport firm. It serves more than 5 million passengers daily on some 28,000 trains. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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