2007 German national rail strike

[4] In the fall of 2007, the union demanded a 31 percent wage increase from Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned company which operates the German rail system.

[1][6] Deutsche Bahn countered by offering a one-time payment of €2,000 (about $2,934) and a 10 percent wage increase, with a two-hour extension of the work week.

[6][7] But GDL chairman Manfred Schell said the Deutsche Bahn offer was not acceptable as a basis for reopening talks.

[8] Deutsche Bahn refused to make another wage offer, and the company's 20-member supervisory board announced that it supported management's decision.

Schell accused Deutsche Bahn of "raping"[1] the country and the union, and declared DB had "provoked"[8] the strike.

Deutsche Bahn, in turn, accused GDL of "blackmail"[8] and "madness"[7] and said any strike would be "destructive" and an "economic disaster.

[1] In October and early November 2007, GDL held several short strikes against local commuter lines, stopping work for a total of 65 hours.

[1] Automobile manufacturers, which depended heavily on trains for moving vehicles, found inventories backing up immediately.

[10] A scientific poll conducted by Infratest Dimap for the public-service broadcaster ARD found that 61 percent of the people support the workers.

[14] As the strike neared its conclusion, GDL Chairman Schell said he was open to a 31 percent pay increase without a separate collective bargaining agreement.

Deutsche Bahn said the newly hired locomotive engineers would be used to meet increases in demand, and not to help break any future strike.

However, Schell threatened another national rail strike if the union did not receive a new wage offer from Deutsche Bahn by November 19, 2007.

[20] Several news outlets subsequently reported that Deutsche Bahn planned to make a new wage proposal in order to avoid an indefinite strike.

This agreement was eventually approved by the bargaining association formed by Transnet and GDBA and was thus extended to the engine drivers in these two trade unions.

Approximately 40,000 work days had been lost due to the strike in 2007 [23] By contrast, in January 2009, DB was able to conclude an agreement that covered all 3 trade unions after only 2 weeks of negotiations.