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German train strike causing headaches
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by Rob Peters | November 15, 2007 at 11:10 am
373 views | 5 Recommendations | 1 comment
Commuters in major German cities are facing disruption in a 48-hour train strike - the sixth in three months.
I guess the German union choo choo chooses tough talks over railway rides.
The biggest strike in the history of the German railways caused major disruptions and threatened to knock the wind out of Europe's largest economy as passenger and freight train drivers stopped work.On main line tracks, only two-thirds of trains were running, most of them high-speed trains. In the west of the country, just half the regional trains were operating, and in the east about 15 percent, according to operator Deutsche Bahn.
The government said it feared the strike could have a dramatic economic impact and made an urgent appeal to the train drivers' GDL union and Deutsche Bahn to return to the negotiating table.
If Deutsche Bahn does not sweeten its pay offer by Monday, the union is ready to stage walkouts "until Christmas," Hans-Joachim Kernchen of GDL warned.
But the rail company said it would not be brought to its knees, amid growing public frustration with the industrial action.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 15:12 on November 15th, 2007
Rob Peters, sounds very much like our rail maintenance strike earlier this year. We have also had post delivery strikes and the threat of fire service strikes. I think the problem lies with leadership. If the leaders give themselves massive pay rises then the workers expect the same. Cut out the 'fat cat' as we say, big rises and I think the workers will do the same. Good stuff..