by Our Foreign Desk

A UNION representing German train drivers has called members out on a five-day strike starting today.

The walkout will be the longest yet in an increasingly bitter dispute with the national railway operator.

The GDL union said that passenger train drivers would walk off the job at 2am and not return until 9am on Sunday.

Freight drivers began strike action yesterday afternoon.

The long-running dispute between GDL and railway operator Deutsche Bahn has already produced a string of strikes.

GDL wants a 5 per cent pay rise and shorter hours.

But the central sticking point is its demand to negotiate not just for train drivers but for members who are conductors, who are traditionally represented by another union.

Deutsche Bahn insists that it will not accept different pay deals for employees who do the same job.

The union accuses Deutsche Bahn of “trampling on GDL members’ constitutionally protected rights” and playing for time until a new law aimed at restricting smaller unions comes into force this summer.

Recent years have seen a rise in the power of small unions representing single or a few professions.

Under the new law, when there are several wage contracts for the same group of employees at a company, only the one negotiated by the majority union would be valid.

The legislation is expected to face court challenges.

Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt criticised the strike announcement, claiming that “the limit of people’s acceptance of this dispute is increasingly being reached.”