A train drivers' strike is underway across Germany. It overlapped with the farmers' protest. Roads are blocked, trains are stopped
This morning at 2 a.m., the strike of German train drivers began and should last until Friday at 18 p.m. It overlapped with protest of farmers. Freight trains were stopped already on Tuesday at 18 pm. Across the country, roads are blocked, trains are stopped. Germany stopped.
80 percent of intercity rail traffic was temporarily suspended, while regional traffic was significantly restricted, German Railways announced.
This concern tried at the last moment before the District Court of Hessen to prevent a strike by the Train Drivers' Union (GDL), but the lawsuit was rejected.
Difficult and long negotiations
The suspension of rail traffic is the third, and so far the longest, in the current disagreements between GDL and German Railways over tariff contracts, reports the German Public Service ARD. The railway company Trandsev is also on strike. GDL organized one-day warning strikes in November and early December 2023.
The railway switched to a crisis timetable. Tickets purchased for the period between January 10 and 12 will be valid when the strike ends.
On Tuesday evening, the railway management once again called on GDL to return to the negotiating table. Transport Minister Volker Vissing said on that occasion: "A compromise that is acceptable to both parties must be found." We have to talk."
The head of GDL, Klaus Veselski, replied that it is up to the Railway to come up with a better offer, and that "shortening the strike is out of the question". 97 percent of the members of this union declared for the strike.
What are train drivers looking for?
Negotiations between GDL and Železnica on salary increases have been going on since November. The train drivers are asking for an increase in their monthly salary by 555 euros, as well as an inflation premium that would be exempt from taxes. The railway has planned an 11 percent salary increase.
The main problem in the negotiations, writes the ARD portal, is that the train drivers are asking for a reduction in working hours from 38 to 35 per week. The railway took the position that this was not possible.
JH/ARD/NDR
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