The German train drivers' union pledged on Aug. 10 to delay a planned nationwide strike until August 27 to allow efforts to find a negotiated solution to begin. The GDL union made the pledge before a labor court in the southern city of Nuremberg, where it had appealed against a ruling this week to ban strike action until September 30 because of its potential economic consequences. The court set the August date as a compromise measure.
Deutsche Bahn's head of transport and logistics, Norbert Bensel, welcomed the union's willingness to delay the strike and return to negotiations. "The decision to hold off on the strike is an important signal to the German economy and allows users of the rail network to plan their trips," Bensel said.
Deutsche Bahn has rejected GDL's call for a 31% pay rise as outrageous.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
