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The German national rail strike of 2007 was a strike in Germany by the locomotive engineers union, Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer (GDL, or German Train Drivers' Union), which began on November 14, 2007 and ended on November 17, 2007. The union struck Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned company which operates the German rail system. It was the largest strike in history (as of 2007) against Deutsche Bahn.〔Landler, "German Rail Strike Disrupts Travel and Freight," ''New York Times,'' November 16, 2007.〕〔Chambers, "Economic Damage Feared As Rail Strike Grips Germany," ''Reuters,'' November 14, 2007.〕〔"Will Train Drivers Steal Christmas?", ''Der Spiegel,'' November 16, 2007.〕 ==Origins of the strike== German Train Drivers' Union/Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer (known by its German initials, GDL) is a relatively small union which represents about 34,000 train drivers in Germany.〔Siebelt, "German Train Drivers to Step Up Strike Action," ''The Guardian,'' November 13, 2007.〕 In the fall of 2007, the union demanded a 31 percent wage increase from Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned company which operates the German rail system. The wage demand was far higher than the 4.5 percent wage increase won in July by Transnet Gewerkschaft (Transnet) and Verkehrsgewerkschaft GDBA (GDBA), the railway's two other large unions which together represent about 195,000 workers.〔Thomas, "German Train Strike Halts Passenger, Cargo Service," ''Bloomberg Business News,'' November 15, 2007.〕 But GDL argued that German locomotive engineers are paid less than their counterparts in other European countries.〔〔Thomas, "German Rail Strike to Resume, Affecting Passengers," ''Bloomberg Business News,'' November 13, 2007.〕 Deutsche Bahn rejected the wage demand. The company said that it was committed to the long-standing German trade union practice of bargaining a coordinated contract with all its unions at once to create uniform wage standards. Deutsche Bahn argued that meeting GDL's wage demands would break this pattern and lead to wage demands from other unions.〔〔 Deutsche Bahn countered by offering a one-time payment of €2,000 (about $2,934) and a 10 percent wage increase, with a two-hour extension of the work week.〔〔"German Train Drivers Expand Strike to Passenger Network," ''Associated Press,'' November 15, 2007.〕 But GDL chairman Manfred Schell said the Deutsche Bahn offer was not acceptable as a basis for reopening talks.〔"German Train Drivers to Step Up Strike Action," ''The Guardian,'' November 13, 2007.〕 Deutsche Bahn refused to make another wage offer, and the company's 20-member supervisory board announced that it supported management's decision.〔 Both sides also engaged in a vitriolic war of words which held out little chance of avoiding a strike. Schell accused Deutsche Bahn of "raping"〔 the country and the union, and declared DB had "provoked"〔 the strike. Deutsche Bahn, in turn, accused GDL of "blackmail"〔 and "madness"〔 and said any strike would be "destructive" and an "economic disaster."〔 Schell denounced the company, declaring, "This is all a theatrical performance by the railway."〔 Any strike was considered "...a bold gamble by an isolated union."〔 GDL represented a mere 3 percent of Deutsche Bahn's workforce. No other Deutsche Bahn union supported the engineers' strike, nor did the German federation of trade unions, Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB). But GDL had a tradition of breaking with other unions in wage negotiations. GDL also believed the time was ripe for a nationwide strike. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government had planned to sell a 49 percent stake in Deutsche Bahn to the public. The union believed it had to seek its wage demands now before the privatization effort began.〔〔〔"German Railway Fears Sell-Off Halt," ''Associated Press,'' November 15, 2007.〕 GDL engaged in a series of strikes throughout the summer and fall designed to increase pressure on the railway prior to engaging in a nationwide walkout. A short strike occurred in July 2007, and Deutsche Bahn sued the union for €5 million ($7.3 million) in damages.〔 In October and early November 2007, GDL held several short strikes against local commuter lines, stopping work for a total of 65 hours. On November 10, 2007, the union held a 42-hour strike which stopped about 90 percent of all freight trains in the country.〔 Deutsche Bahn estimated the November 10 freight strike cost €50 million ($73 million) each day.〔〔"Train Drivers Union Threatens to Strike Until Christmas," ''Deutsche Welle,'' November 15, 2007.〕 Public sector workers in Germany have a severely restricted right to strike.〔Bordogna, ''Industrial Relations in the Public Sector,'' July 2007.〕 Deutsche Bahn had previously won a court ruling limiting any strike to local service. But in early November 2007, the GDL union won the right to strike freight and long-distance trains as well.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2007 German national rail strike」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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