Freight trains lie idle at a freight depot in Munich yesterday. Train drivers for German rail operator Deutsche Bahn have announced a week-long strike, their eighth work stoppage in 10 months of bitterly contentious wage negotiations. The drivers’ union GDL called on workers to down tools from 3pm yesterday (1300 GMT) for freight and from 2am today for passenger trains, with the strike to end for both services at 9am on May 10.

DPA/Berlin

Chancellor Angela Merkel called yesterday for mediation as part of efforts to head off a week-long strike by German train drivers that business estimates could cost the economy €100mn ($111.3mn) a day.
“The right to strike is a legal right in Germany,” said Merkel.
However, the walkout by train drivers would have “serious” ramifications for both business and private travellers, she said.
The chancellor called on those involved in the talks between the union and employers to make every effort to find a quick solution, adding that mediation was a viable course, especially as it meant she would not have to intervene directly.
“We all hope that there is a solution,” Merkel said.
But Claus Weselsky, who heads up the train drivers’ union (GDL) has rejected mediation as a way of ending the increasingly rancorous dispute and instead blamed the German rail company, Deutsche Bahn for the strike.
On Sunday, the GDL called on its members to walk off the job today at 2am (0000 GMT) and not return to work until Sunday at 9am, as a result throwing passenger train services in the nation into chaos.
Freight services drivers’ began their strike yesterday.
German business have condemned the plans by train drivers to launch the strike as they begin to count the cost to Europe’s biggest economy of the industrial action.
“The escalation in the wage dispute with Deutsche Bahn will result in massive damage to German industry,” said Dieter Schweer from the German Federation of Industry. “This will lead to empty warehouses as well as result in disruption to supply chains and cause production losses for many industries.”
The strike forms part of a long-running dispute between the GDL and Deutsche Bahn over pay and labour rights with the train drivers having so far walked off the job eight times since September.
However, this week’s action, which followed the union’s rejection of the employers’ latest offer, will be the longest strike since Deutsche Bahn was created in 1994.
“The German economy faces daily losses of €100mn,” said Ingo Kramer, who heads the German Employers’ Federation (BDI). “The GDL’s moves are irresponsible and out of all proportion.”
The BDI said it expects industries such as the steel, chemical and automobile to be particularly badly hit by the strike.
“Deutsche Bahn is the cause of the escalation,” said GDL’s Weselsky, accusing the company of not wanting to resolve the dispute.
“One step forward, two steps back” has been Deutsche Bahn’s strategy, he said.
“We don’t mediate over fundamental rights,” said Weselsky.
The GDL, the smaller of two main train drivers’ unions in Germany, is seeking a 5% pay increase and one hour less work per week.
The union is also seeking to independently represent about 17,000 rail workers holding jobs such as stewards.
The union on Thursday rejected a new Deutsche Bahn wage offer that included a wage rise of 4.7% in two stages starting July 1 and a one-time per-employee payment of €1,000 by June 30.
Despite the strike action, Deutsche Bahn was confident that about one-third of long-distance rail services would be operating.