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Longest train strike in the history of Germany announced

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B

Blablurn

Member
BERLIN (AP) — A union representing German train drivers has called members out on a five-day strike starting Tuesday — its longest walkout yet in an increasingly bitter dispute with the national railway operator.

The GDL union said passenger train drivers will walk off the job at 2 a.m. (0000 GMT) Tuesday and won't return until 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) on May 10. Freight train drivers will start their walkout Monday.

GDL and railway operator Deutsche Bahn are locked in a long-running dispute in which the main sticking point is GDL's demand to negotiate not just for train drivers but for other railway staff traditionally represented by a larger rival union.

During previous walkouts, Deutsche Bahn has kept a limited number of trains running on key routes but there have been widespread cancelations.
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Fuck them.
 
T

Tenebrous

Member
It's hard to judge without knowing more about the situation, though. I'm all for peoples rights to protest against unfair wages/working conditions, but to shut down a countries main form of non-car transportation for an entire week? Seems to be taking it a bit too far.
 
S

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
Tenebrous said:
It's hard to judge without knowing more about the situation, though. I'm all for peoples rights to protest against unfair wages/working conditions, but to shut down a countries main form of non-car transportation for an entire week? Seems to be taking it a bit too far.
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Afaik GDL wants 5% more money and the right to negotiate the wage for everyone at the DB.
DB said "guys we give you 4,7% more and 1000€ cash as a one time bonus, but we can't give you the right to negotiate for everyone except your members"

And that is why they strike again.
please correct me if I said something wrong

Hard for friends of mine. They take a train ride every day one hour to university and one hour back which will now be around 2-3 hours each time..
 
O

oti

Banned
It's annoying but they have every right to strike and they should.

Hopefully my University cancels every class. That'd be nice.
 
K

Kinyou

Member
GDL and railway operator Deutsche Bahn are locked in a long-running dispute in which the main sticking point is GDL's demand to negotiate not just for train drivers but for other railway staff traditionally represented by a larger rival union.
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This is why I can't really sympathise with the train drivers. It feels like it's just about a power/vanity thing.
 
S

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
oti xero said:
It's annoying but they have every right to strike and they should.

Hopefully my University cancels every class. That'd be nice.
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My university said something along the lines "find another way to be on time. If you are not it will be counted as one of the 3 times you are allowed to not show up. After those 3 times you have to repeat the class" the only good part is that most professors at my university just ignore if people come on strike days and say everyone was at class
 
TVexperto

TVexperto

Member
This is awful! My commute takes already an hour and a half! I have classes at university and a new job that I started last week in a big city. Obviously I cant move out since I still live with my parents but this is horrible. This really ruins my sunday evening, I dont even know how I am supposed to get to Düsseldorf everyday next week.
 
I

iidesuyo

Member
Get a car.

On the long run it won't be more expensive than going by train.

And you can even smoke or listen to loud music!
 
C

crack-king

Member
It`s not as easy as it looks like. It`s actually not about more money or less work. They want the right to speak for other people at the train industry. Why? Because german "politics" want to restrict unions, so that only the biggest union can negotiate on new terms. This would destroy the GDL, but every agreement before that new law stays after the law. Even if they wouldn`t be the biggest union. So the GDL tries to point the gun at the head of the Deutsche Bahn. They have to agree on this term! The other terms weren`t even negotiated to this day!

I´m on the side of the GDL. Strikes suck, but it`s everyones right to strike and choose his own union.
 
O

oti

Banned
Sesuadra said:
My university said something along the lines "find another way to be on time. If you are not it will be counted as one of the 3 times you are allowed to not show up. After those 3 times you have to repeat the class" the only good part is that most professors at my university just ignore if people come on strike days and say everyone was at class
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Hamburg is pretty nice. If there's a huge strike the president will send a message around. He doesn't cancel the classes but he prohibits the professors to teach "exam stuff". During the last strike he didn't do that but it wasnt that bad. The S-Bahn drove every 20 minutes instead of every 10 minutes.
 
C

Chri_stoph

Member
This makes me glad that the train I have to take to university is not going to be affected by the strike. Still hope that they finally manage to find an agreement.
 
J

Joni

Member
That sounds more like power-abuse from the union than anything. It is just a struggle between them and another union. It is also hateful if a smaller union can sucker an entire nation in a big strike that hardly anybody supports.
 
C

Chri_stoph

Member
iidesuyo said:
Get a car.

On the long run it won't be more expensive than going by train.

And you can even smoke or listen to loud music!
Click to expand...

It will be more expensive, at least as a university student, since you get a free ticket for public transportion, when paying the semester fee for university.
 
I

infi

Member
Delta Assault said:
We're developing robot cars, yet we don't even have robot trains yet?
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From a look online the only passenger trains that are driverless in Germany appear to be the Nuremberg U-Bahn trains. You'd expect if these strikes are happening a lot they may look towards more automation though.
 
D

Dictator93

Member
Did someone seriously post that "getting a car" is cheap in germany?

lol

Also, as much as I dislike that it can come to strikes like this (the effects of which suck for the bystanders)... this a good sign for the power of tactics that workers can use.
 
P

PdotMichael

Banned
Well, the only I thing I know is that the student parking lots at the HAW, HCU and TuHH in Hamburg were full of cars everyday.
 
TVexperto

TVexperto

Member
iidesuyo said:
I got a '95 Seat Ibiza for 400€ and it served me very well.

When I drove longer routes I used "mitfahrgelegenheit.de" and it paid off the entire fuel costs.
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Cost for a license (where I live): 2000 Euros, Car prices are here 800 euros and up, gas costs a lot of money, TÜV is every 2 years a hundred bucks, and especially insurance. also if you live in a big city, parking costs a lot

edit: wait where did you find it for 400 euros
 
N

Nander

Member
iidesuyo said:
Get a car.

On the long run it won't be more expensive than going by train.

And you can even smoke or listen to loud music!
Click to expand...

Not how things work in larger cities in Europe (saw that you are German, but the point still stands). Just parking where I live would be more expensive per day than taking the subway to school.
 
S

SamVimes

Member
TVexperto said:
Cost for a license (where I live): 2000 Euros, Car prices are here 800 euros and up, gas costs a lot of money, TÜV is every 2 years a hundred bucks, and especially insurance. also if you live in a big city, parking costs a lot

edit: wait where did you find it for 400 euros
Click to expand...

Fred-Flintstone-Barney-Rubble-Car.jpg
 
I

iidesuyo

Member
TVexperto said:
Cost for a license (where I live): 2000 Euros, Car prices are here 800 euros and up, gas costs a lot of money, TÜV is every 2 years a hundred bucks, and especially insurance. also if you live in a big city, parking costs a lot

edit: wait where did you find it for 400 euros
Click to expand...

I paid ~1000 DM for my drivers license back in 1999.

The Ibiza 6K was bought from a Turkish dealer in Berlin back in 2005. It was a 1.8 90hp engine sourced from VW.
 
L

Ladekabel

Member
iidesuyo said:
I am German and everyone can get a car for cheap. Even students.
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Buying the car is cheap. Maintaining it or fuel aren't. And you're not always guaranteed to get TÜV.

Sucks, but I'm all for the members of the GDL striking. Wonder what the Bild-Zeitung will do this time for the witchhunt.
 
P

PdotMichael

Banned
TVexperto said:
Cost for a license (where I live): 2000 Euros, Car prices are here 800 euros and up, gas costs a lot of money, TÜV is every 2 years a hundred bucks, and especially insurance. also if you live in a big city, parking costs a lot

edit: wait where did you find it for 400 euros
Click to expand...

You don't need a car as student. But a driving license should be standard anyway.
 
S

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
iidesuyo said:
I paid ~1000 DM for my drivers license back in 1999.

The Ibiza 6K was bought from a Turkish dealer in Berlin back in 2005. It was a 1.8 90hp engine sourced from VW.
Click to expand...
That is the important part. Today you pay 1.5k-1.8k.

Most of the people I met at the university in the last 5 years don't even have a license. Which is a really good thing imho.
 
J

Jasup

Member
Nander said:
Not how things work in larger cities in Europe (saw that you are German, but the point still stands). Just parking where I live would be more expensive per day than taking the subway to school.
Click to expand...

Besides, if quarter of the people who take the public transit (or bike, or just walk) switched to a private car, no-one would have a nice day.
 
B

Burgess_101

Member
So does this affect the whole country? I have German lessons Monday-Thursday and if I cant get the train there, I am not sure how else.
 
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