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Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP)
Photo: Andreas Arnold / dpa
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing reacted to the strike announcement by the train drivers' union GDL with sharp criticism.
“I have zero understanding for this form of collective bargaining,” says the FDP politician in the ZDF morning magazine.
In his opinion, the collective bargaining conflict between Deutsche Bahn and GDL is “taking on increasingly destructive features.”
The German Locomotive Drivers' Union (GDL) has previously called on its employees to go on strike again.
This will begin in passenger traffic early on Wednesday morning at 2 a.m. and last until Monday next week at 6 p.m., she said.
Deutsche Bahn expects “massive disruption” to long-distance, regional and S-Bahn traffic and announced an emergency timetable, which will, however, ensure “only a very limited number of trains”.
(Read more about service here.)
The GDL’s collective bargaining negotiations with the railways are currently on hold.
The union backed up its demands twice with one-day warning strikes in November and December, followed by a three-day strike in January.
She again rejected an offer from the railway on Friday as non-negotiable.
Transport Minister Wissing had so far largely stayed out of the collective bargaining dispute.
But he apparently didn't want to leave the latest strike announcement uncommented: He doesn't believe that GDL boss Claus Weselsky is "doing himself and his union a favor with this style," notes the FDP politician.
lph/dpa/AFP