Looming Rail Strike
August 7, 2007
After weeks of wrangling over a pay dispute, the German train drivers' union (GDL) and Germany's state-owned Deutsche Bahn on Tuesday agreed to allow mediation to solve the long-running conflict, raising hope that a planned strike that could cause widespread economic damage may yet be averted.
Manfred Schell, head of the GDL union, said he was prepared to accept an outside negotiator suggested by the federal government to iron out the row. But the planned strikes, he said, will go ahead. The GDL had planned a four-hour work stoppage on Thursday on cargo trains. Deutsche Bahn has warned that the strike would also cause massive disruptions to rail passenger traffic.
Relying on the rails
The possibility of a strike has caused great concern among German companies who rely on rail to transport their goods to market. These industries would be set to lose 100 million euros ($137 million) if the strike goes forward, according to estimates by the Berlin-based German Institute for Economic Research (DIW.)
It's unlikely that the striking conductors would allow other traffic to go around them, said Arthur-Iren Martini, the head of Network Private Railways. The association represents private rail freight companies from several European countries.
The railway "is like a water pipeline," Martini told the Berlin-based Tagesspiegel newspaper. "If you insert a barrier somewhere, the whole system stops."
A strike could threaten the existence of some private companies, if they can't find another way to get goods to market.
"When our train conductors can't drive, we don't get any income," Martini said.
Some sectors would be harder hit
The steel industry, car manufacturers and bulk chemical companies would be the worst affected, experts said.
That's because those important industries have fewer transportation alternatives. Food transportation would be less disrupted since produce can easily go by truck.
A spokesman for Volkswagen, which has 11 factories in Germany, said it was "taking the strike more than seriously."
Volkswagen was setting up a "crisis unit" to consider alternative ways to transport its cars and warned it could lose millions of euros.
BMW said it was seeking additional capacity from road haulage firms to transport its cars. Some 55 per cent of the 3,500 cars made a day by the company in Germany were normally carried by rail, a spokesman said.
"A goods train can take 200 cars, and a truck just eight," he noted.
The steel industry is also worried.
"Of course, the traffic volume by rail for the steel industry is enormous, and therefore disturbances have important effects," said Wolfgang Leese, chairman of Salzgitter, one of Europe's leading steel and technology companies.
90 percent of the company's product travels over the rail system.
Agreements reached with other train unions
GDL chief Manfred Schell said he would be prepared to call off the strike if a "reasonable offer" was placed on the table. Any deal for the drivers would have to be separate from agreements made last month with other rail staff, Schell said.
Last month, two larger unions representing 134,000 workers launched a series of small strikes. Deutsche Bahn eventually agreed to give them an inflation-beating 4.5-percent increase.
The salary hike will be spread over 19 months starting in January 2008 and will include a bonus of 600 euros.
The GDL broke ranks with the two other rail unions and rejected the deal. The union wants a separate labor contract and a pay rise of up to 31 percent.
Deutsche Bahn Human Resources Director, Margret Suckale, suggested appointing an independent mediator, which has been a sticking point between the two sides.
German Transportation Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee on Tuesday appealed to both sides to return to the negotiating table. Tiefensee added that the government would not become "involved directly in the conflict" in line with long-standing policy in Germany, but urged both sides to remember their responsibilities to rail users and to the general economy.