German rail operator loses bid to block train-driver strike

Deutsche Bahn AG failed in its attempt to block another strike by Germany’s train drivers’ union over wages and working hours.

A Frankfurt labor court ruled late Monday under fast-track proceedings that the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer union could go ahead with the stoppages, saying that they weren’t disproportionate. 

Deutsche Bahn, which argued that the GDL hadn’t given sufficient advanced warning, on Tuesday also lost its appeal against the judgment, newswire DPA reported. Germany’s national railway operator already lost a similar legal bid in January. 

Train drivers operating cargo trains halted work from Monday evening until Tuesday evening and on passenger services on Tuesday through early Wednesday.

“The strike notice is far too short,” Florian Weh, managing director of the DB employers’ association AGV MOVE, said in an emailed statement.

The company said it would still be providing around a fifth of its regular passenger services Tuesday.

It’s the sixth walkout organized by the GDL in the latest dispute over wages and working hours and coincides with a separate two-day strike by Deutsche Lufthansa AG cabin crew.

GDL Chairman Claus Weselsky said in a statement on the union’s website that the court had confirmed the strikes are “proportionate, permissible, lawful and therefore suitable for pursuing the legitimate demands of railroad workers.”

Travelers already faced delayed and canceled connections in Germany last week amid separate labor actions by Lufthansa ground crew and train drivers.

Several European Central Bank Governing Council members attended Thursday’s monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt remotely because of the strikes.