Tuesday: German train drivers again call for a strike. Three killed in crash of US military helicopter

In freight transport, the work stoppages start on Monday evening at 6 p.m. and also last 24 hours.

The railway had previously allowed a deadline of 6 p.m. on Sunday evening set by the German Train Drivers’ Association (GDL) to submit a new written offer. This would “inevitably lead to industrial action,” said GDL boss Claus Weselsky, who blamed the railway for what is now the sixth strike in this collective bargaining round.

Shortly before the deadline expired, the railroad re-invited the GDL for new negotiations to resolve the stalled rate strike. “We are convinced that we can only reach an agreement through dialogue at the negotiating table,” said their HR director in Berlin. In the event of a rejection by the GDL, the company proposed formal arbitration.

The GDL has already gone on strike five times in the current collective labor agreement negotiation round; the fifth 35-hour strike did not end until Friday afternoon. Last week, a new round of negotiations had previously failed. In it, two moderators – Prime Minister Daniel Günther of Schleswig-Holstein and former Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière – presented a proposal.

There are regular train strikes in Germany:

The railroad then asked the GDL to resume negotiations based on the moderator’s proposal. However, the union rejected this and called the proposal unacceptable. The core demand of the GDL in the collective labor agreement negotiation dispute with the railways is the gradual introduction of a 35-hour working week with full wage compensation. (sda/afp)