German train drivers to hold new strike

Train drivers from the German GDL union say they are planning to stage a fresh strike next month as they continue their fight for higher wages and better working conditions.

On Thursday, the executive committee of the GDL held a ballot among union leaders and announced their decision to carry out the strike action, English-language digital news publisher The Local reported.

The report added that the strike will be held after October 2, when all union members, rather than just the executive board, will be balloted.

The GDL demands a five-percent salary increase for the drivers and two hours less work per week. But Deutsche Bahn’s management has offered a 1.9-percent pay increase.

The report came a day after pilots at the flag carrier of Germany, Lufthansa, staged an eight-hour strike.

The walkout at Munich airport, which is Germany’s second-busiest airport, cancelled 140 flights, affected some 15,300 passengers and cost Lufthansa tens of millions of euros.

The Vereinigung Cockpit, the union representing pilots at Lufthansa, has been in months of negotiations with the airline over plans to change the early retirement policy.

The union is demanding reinstatement of a benefit that formerly allowed pilots to choose early retirement at 60 on partial pay. Lufthansa wants all fit pilots to keep flying until 65.

Lufthansa pilots carried out a three-day nationwide strike in April over the early retirement scheme. The walkout, the biggest in company’s history, caused 90 percent of Lufthansa flights to be cancelled. The carrier later announced that strike had it cost millions of dollars in lost business.

Hundreds of long-distance and commuter trains across Germany were also brought to a standstill on Saturday, when train drivers went on strike.

The three-hour national walkout was meant to put pressure on German railway company Deutsche Bahn to address the train drivers’ grievances.

MP/MHB/MAM