Record Strike by Railroad Workers in Germany

In Germany, the longest strike of railway workers in history has begun: the staff of Deutsche Bahn will cease work from January 24 till 18:00 on January 29. The demands of the railway workers’ union Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer (GDL), representing 40,000 railroad workers, are a wage increase (by 550 euros per month), bonuses to compensate for inflation, and a reduction in working hours from 38 to 35 hours per week without a pay cut.

Deutsche Bahn and government executives called the initiators of the strike “irresponsible.” The company submitted a proposal, which the industry union leader Claus Weselsky rejected as incapable of being a “basis for negotiation.” Last December, German railroad workers already ceased work. This is the fourth strike in the current wage dispute, the longest and now including weekends. The result will be, if not a halt in traffic – given that some working routes are preserved – then at least a slowdown of the entire country with consequences for other European nations as well.

“Up until Monday, massive disruptions to long-distance and regional services are expected due to the GDL strike,” Deutsche Bahn said. “Even European freight traffic through the Alps, Poland, or Scandinavia, as well as seaports in the Netherlands and Belgium, are affected.” According to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, this is resulting in a significant drop in trade and canceled shipments.

This is just the latest chapter in the growing tensions in Germany. The beginning of 2024 was marked by farmer protests, with their tractors blockading major German cities several times (in that case, the dispute was over the ending of fuel subsidies), up to a large protest against extremism and the growing strength of the AfD political party. The railroad strike and its consequences at the public and commercial level will only increase tensions within the former “locomotive of Europe” and put more pressure on the Olaf Scholz’s government, which is getting weaker by the day. The popularity of the chancellor, who a large proportion of Germans believe has failed to tackle inflation and the economic crisis following the energy turmoil over sanctions against Russia, is at a record low.