BERLIN (Reuters/Web Desk) – Buses, trams and underground trains stood idle across most of Germany on Friday at the culmination of a week of staggered public transport strikes triggered by disputes over working hours.
The walkouts, organised by the Verdi union, have hit 14 of the country's 16 states, including Berlin. They ended in the capital at 2 pm (1300 GMT) but stretch into Saturday elsewhere.
Adding to the potential turmoil, the actions coincided on Friday with climate protests calling for greener transport in more than 100 cities, organised by Fridays for Future and other green campaign groups.
It was the second wave of near-nationwide public transport strikes in recent weeks called by Verdi, which represents about 90,000 employees from more than 130 municipal companies.
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Verdi has said its current talks over public transport workers' contracts have stalled as it pushes for reduced working hours and more leave.
Berlin's public transport operator BVG has called the strike action "unnecessary and completely exaggerated".
Faced with persistently high inflation, Europe's largest economy has seen a number of strikes that have also impacted air travel and railways.
THE COLLAPSE
Commuters could soon face more industrial action on the railways after weeks-long talks between the GDL train drivers' union and Deutsche Bahn collapsed on Thursday evening.
Wage negotiations between German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the train drivers' union GDL broke down again on Thursday, raising the possibility of further rail strikes, DW reported.
A DB spokesperson said that the state-owned rail operator had made "far-reaching compromises" but that the GDL was "sticking dogmatically to [demands for] a 35-hour week with unchanged pay."
DB human resources director Martin Seiler said the company was "prepared to take steps towards a reduction in working hours which go far beyond our previous offer" but said the union has "refused to move a single millimetre in the last four weeks."
But GDL representatives accused the Bahn of "leaking" confidential details from the talks to the press and quit the negotiations. After mass-market newspaper Bild published details from the talks, GDL representatives said the information could only have come from DB sources since the union has not spoken to the newspaper "for years" due to its "tendentious and blaming" reporting.
The GDL wouldn't comment on the negotiations themselves but announced a press conference for Monday.
THE DEMANDS
The GDL is still sticking to its core demand for a reduction in weekly working hours for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours. In addition, the union, led by Claus Weselsky, also wants to negotiate collective agreements for parts of railway infrastructure. DB has so far rejected both points.
According to DW, The GDL has paralyzed large parts of rail traffic in Germany four times with two strikes and two longer strikes. Long-distance, regional and freight transport came to a standstill for days.