German train strike to end on Saturday

The head of the GDL German train drivers' union, Claus Weselsky, announced in Frankfurt on Friday that a strike, which had been meant to run until early on Monday morning, would end on Saturday at 18:00 local time (17:00 UTC).

The announcement came shortly after a labor court in Frankfurt announced that it had rejected Deutsche Bahn's appeal, in which its lawyers contested a ruling from Thursday that saw an injunction rejected to force the train drivers back onto the job.

Weselsky appeared triumphant as he spoke to reporters, saying that the court ruling meant the GDL was clearly within its rights to keep its drivers off the job until 4:00 on Monday as had been planned. He described the union's decision to end the work stoppage more than a day earlier as a "gesture of reconciliation."

The head of Deutsche Bahn's personnel department, Ulrich Weber, though, said the union's decision to return to the job early showed that the rail operator's decision to challenge the strike in court had also borne fruit.

"This is a good sign for our customers and our staff," Weber said.

Thursday's hearing followed hours of talks between the union and management in which a lower court judge attempted to mediate between the two parties. After this failed, he ruled that the strike was not disproportionate to the issue at hand, as argued by Deutsche Bahn.

In Friday's hearing at the higher court, Deutsche Bahn lawyer Thomas Ubber again argued that the drivers' strike was disproportionate, not only because of the widespread inconvenience caused to passengers, but also because it was costing the German economy around 100 million euros ($130 million) a day. The higher court too found that the strike action was not disproportionate.

Small union, big impact

The GDL is demanding a five percent pay rise, a shorter working week and the right to negotiate on behalf of more than just train drivers and engineers. The latter point is opposed by the larger EVG trade union for rail and public transport staff, which has accused the GDL of using the work stoppage to try to recruit its members.

The strike has knocked out about two thirds of Germany's train service.

Friday's news that the union had decided to end the strike on Saturday evening was good news for those planning to travel to Berlin on Sunday for celebrations to mark 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Major disruption to travel had been anticipated, had the GDL drivers remained off the job.

pfd/glb (dpa, AFP, Reuters)