The last time rail traffic stopped due to a strike was in the middle of last month and before that at the end of March.
To Germany there is a new train strike. The German transport trade union EVG announced on Thursday that the railway workers’ strike will start at 10:00 pm local time on Sunday and end at midnight on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.
EVG represents almost a quarter of a million employees who are employed by around 50 companies in the transport sector, including the state-owned Deutsche Bahn railway company. The last time rail traffic stopped due to a strike was in the middle of last month and before that at the end of March.
“Employees are running out of patience. We are forced to go on a 50-hour strike to show how serious the situation is,” argued an EVG executive Cosima Ingenschay.
EVG demands a 12 percent and minimum monthly salary increase of 650 euros for a year. Deutsche Bahn has offered five percent for 27 months and a one-time “inflation bonus” of 2,500 euros.
Deutsche Bahn representative Martin Seiler called the strike “absurd”.
“The strike is unfounded and excessive. That’s why millions can’t get to school, work or to their loved ones,” Seiler complained.
German inflation was 7.2 percent in April.
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