Train Drivers Strike
October 5, 2007
Train drivers went on a three-hour strike across Germany starting at 8 a.m. Friday morning, complicating the morning commute. In some German cities, such as Stuttgart, two commuter train lines had been closed for lack of drivers and many regional trains had also been either delayed or cancelled.
In other cities, strike contingency plans put into place by Germany's state-owned Deutsche Bahn kept trains running, although less frequently. The contingency plans aimed to keep half of the country's 19,000 regional trains and two of every three long-distance trains operating, according to a Deutsche Bahn spokesman.
Some drivers are not members of the union, allowing Deutsche Bahn to staff some of its most important commuter routes.
In Germany's industrial heartland of North Rhine-Westphalia, commuters seemed to have taken other modes of transportation. Commuter trains in Essen, Bochum and Dortmund were relatively empty as the strike got underway Friday morning.
Drawn-out wage dispute
Deutsche Bahn has been in a months-long wage dispute with the German train drivers' union, GDL. The union says its members are underpaid when compared with train drivers elsewhere in Europe.
In June, two larger unions representing 134,000 workers launched a series of small strikes. Deutsche Bahn eventually agreed to give them an inflation-beating 4.5-percent pay increase. The GDL broke ranks with the two other rail unions and rejected the deal. The union wants a separate labor contract and a pay raise of up to 31 percent.
The two sides held new talks in September to try to come to an agreement on wages, but have been unable to reach a compromise.
"If they don't do this, then they should prepare for another battle with labor," union boss Manfred Schell said.
Long-distance trains barred from striking
A labor court in the eastern German city of Chemnitz ruled early Friday morning that long-distance trains could not be included in the strike due to concerns that it would harm the economy. The strike would have to be limited to local trains, the court ruled.
Schell welcomed the green light the court gave to go ahead and strike on local trains, but said the drivers felt other trains should have been included in the strike as well.
"We cannot comprehend why we can't strike on freight and long-distance lines," he said after the court ruling.
Deutsche Bahn carries 5 million passengers each day and is an important engine of the German economy. Transportation Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee has warned that a drawn-out strike could have "disastrous consequences" for Germany's economic upswing.