Railway strike to massively hurt German economy: business groups

Major German business groups warned on Monday that the coming week-long strike of train drivers would deliver a heavy blow to the German economy and cause hundreds of millions of euros worth in damage.

Following recent failed negotiations over wage disputes between German train drivers' union GDL and German railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB), freight train drivers began striking at 3:00 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) on Monday and were to be joined by passenger train drivers at 2:00 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Tuesday.

The strike, the eighth since July last year and the longest one in DB's history, was scheduled to last until 9:00 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Sunday.

"The new escalation in wage dispute with Deutsche Bahn harms the industry in Germany massively," said Dieter Schweer, a member of the executive board for the Federation of German Industries (BDI).

"This will result in empty warehouses, broken supply chains, and production losses in many industries," he said.

According to Schweer, the steel, chemical and automobile industries, which rely on railway transportation, would be particularly affected.

Eric Schweitzer, the president of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), estimated that the strike would cause an economic cost of "half a billion euros" (about 557.7 million U.S. dollars).

"The rail strike costs real money," he said.

GDL was seeking a five percent wage increase and one hour shorter work week for its members. The union also sought to achieve the right to represent other rail workers, such as stewards, in collective bargaining.

After several waves of strikes and a failure to reach an agreement, the union refused to accept arbitration over the dispute and accused DB of escalating the situation.

DB, however, condemned the union for launching the industrial action and described the strike as "inappropriate and intemperate." Endit