Germany’s train drivers began the longest railway strike in the country’s modern history on Wednesday, which will paralyze traffic for six days and cost Europe’s largest economy hundreds of millions of euros. It is the fourth strike called by the GDL union in recent weeks, within a conflict with the state railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) over salaries and working hours, and on this occasion it began this Wednesday at two in the morning for transport for passengers and had started on Tuesday at six in the afternoon for goods. Its completion is scheduled for Monday, January 29 at six in the afternoon.
Deutsche Bahn warned that “the GDL strike will cause massive disruptions in all long-distance and regional traffic up to and including Monday,” and confirmed that “it is the longest in DB history.” Liberal Transport Minister Volker Wissing called it “destructive” as Germany, whose GDP shrank by 0.3% last year, is lagging behind in terms of growth compared to other advanced economies. The prolonged action “is also a blow against the German economy,” said DB spokesperson Anja Bröker, who warned of the impact on supply chains.
The GDL machinists’ union, a minority within a company with some 211,000 employees, demands salary increases to compensate for inflation and move to a 35-hour week for four days compared to the current 38-hour week. Deutsche Bahn’s latest offer is 37 hours a week for the same salary or an additional 2.7% pay increase for those who maintain the same number of hours.
This summer, Deutsche Bahn ended a social conflict initiated by the majority union EVG, which represents some 180,000 workers. Germany, recognized for the quality of social dialogue, is seeing an increase in social and labor conflicts, some due to cutback measures by the coalition government of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This is the case of the recent protests by farmers and transporters, which collapsed Berlin and other cities with caravans of tractors and trucks demonstrating.
The strike is also having a huge impact on DB Cargo’s freight services. “It is feared that the GDL strike will cause a significant drop in volumes and that many customers will shift as much freight as possible onto trucks and onto the road,” the German railway company warned. DB Cargo is doing everything possible, according to a statement, to ensure that freight trains relevant to the supply, for example for power plants and blast furnaces, reach their destination.
With six European freight rail corridors, Germany is a hub for freight traffic, and DB Cargo, Deutsche Bahn’s freight subsidiary, operates some 20,000 trains a week serving much of the continent. “Even after the end of a strike, the European network will take several days or even weeks to be operational,” according to DB’s assessment.
