The German train drivers' union GDL said on Thursday it would strike on passenger and freight routes from January 7. The union, which has held a series of crippling freight and passenger strikes since July, told reporters that talks with national rail operator Deutsche Bahn had completely broken down.
"We will begin strikes from January 7 and will only end them when we feel we are on the way to an acceptable wage deal," GDL chief Manfred Schell told a news conference in Frankfurt. The GDL had been seeking a 31 percent pay rise but signalled recently that it would be willing to accept a deal in the 10-15 percent range.
The 34,000-member union held negotiations with Deutsche Bahn earlier this month and said it would not strike as long as talks contine that the last strike by the GDL, on passenger and freight routes in November, cost the economy around 75 million euros ($108 million) a day. The union says its drivers are underpaid compared with their counterparts elsewhere in Europe.
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