Their union is seeking a 31% wage increase.

Jul 3, 2007
Reuters

BERLIN (AP) -- A strike by train drivers and other railway employees caused major disruption across Germany Tuesday morning. The national railway said tens of thousands of commuters were affected.

The GDL union, which represents many of Deutsche Bahn AG's drivers, launched a four-hour walkout at 5 a.m. (0300GMT). That came on top of strikes by members of two other unions in a separate wage dispute with the company.

Deutsche Bahn said the walkouts caused "massive" disruption across the country and delays likely would last into the evening.

The strike brought many trains, ranging from local to high-speed services, to a standstill. The railway operator said tens of thousands of commuters nationwide were affected.

GDL is seeking wage increases of up to 31 percent for some of its members and a separate wage deal with Deutsche Bahn for train drivers. The union says the drivers currently earn some euro1,500 (US$2,000) per month after taxes, which it describes as inadequate.

The two other unions, GDBA and Transnet, which represent a broader range of railway employees, launched their own campaign of limited walkouts on Monday.

They have called for wage increases of up to 7 percent for some 134,000 employees, citing healthy company earnings, and have rejected a more modest offer last week from Deutsche Bahn.

The company is offering a 2-percent increase next January, followed by another 2 percent in July 2009, and one-time extra payments of euro300 (US$400) to cover the rest of this year.

» Have your say on this and other issues in our forum pages