(Reuters) – German railway workers will launch a record six-day strike starting on Wednesday after their union rejected the latest pay offer from state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn.
The GDL union announced on Monday that the fourth round of strikes to demand better wages would begin at 2 a.m. Wednesday and last until 6 p.m. the following Monday, making it the longest strike in Deutsche Bahn’s history. .
Freight train drivers are expected to begin their strike a day earlier, on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
The longest strike in Deutsche Bahn’s history lasted five days in 2015.
Deutsche Bahn submitted a new wage offer to the GDL union on Friday which also met the organization’s main demand, namely a reduction in working hours accompanied by full wage compensation.
The GDL, however, rejected it.
The train operator and GDL have been in dispute over a collective agreement since early November, with the union demanding a reduction in its workers’ working week from 38 to 35 hours, based on current wages.
According to Joerg Kraemer, chief economist at Commerzbank, the railway workers’ strike could cost the transport sector 30 million euros per day. The damage could be even greater if the social movement were to cause factories to stop production due to supply problems, he warns.
(Report by Katharina Loesche, Rene Wagner and Markus Wacket, written by Linda Pasquini and Miranda Murray; French version Diana Mandiá, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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