Advertisement

Train drivers vote in favour of strikes

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Train drivers vote in favour of strikes
A GDL strike in 2011 at Stuttgart station. Photo: DPA

UPDATE: Germany's train drivers' union voted overwhelmingly in favour of widespread strikes on Thursday afternoon.

Advertisement

Strikes are now set to hit Deutsche Bahn, although no date for walk offs has been announced yet.

Members of the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) who voted were 91 percent in favour of strikes, a union spokeswoman said in Frankfurt on Thursday.

Train drivers last walked out at the start of September for three hours in a warning strike. A short walkout was also staged on Monday September 1st which hit goods services and severely disrupted passenger trains.

But following the ballot on Thursday, the next round of walk outs will be full strikes. 

The union wants a five-per-cent wage increase for its members and a two-hour cut to the working week.

A second strand in the dispute is Deutsche Bahn's demand that GDL sign a cooperation agreement with Deutsche Bahn’s in-house union EVG. The two unions are currently in conflict over which groups of personnel they should represent.

GDL said in September it had dismissed Deutsche Bahn’s latest offer because it did not resolve the conflict over which union should represent train drivers. 

SEE ALSO: International school teachers strike in Munich

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also