Germany grinds to a halt as striking train drivers and tractor blockades spark 'massive' disruption in deepening 'winter of discontent'

  • Post category:news
  • Reading time:7 min(s) read

  • Train travel across the country and in many cities came to a near standstill
  • It comes as disgruntled farmers blocked slip roads and parked tractors in cities

A union representing many of Germany’s train drivers started a nearly three-day strike early Wednesday in a bitter dispute with the country’s state-owned main railway operator over working hours and pay.

Train travel across the country and in many cities came to a near standstill with commuters and other travellers struggling to find alternatives involving long-distance bus or car travel or flights.

State-owned Deutsche Bahn said only around 20% of its long-distance trains were running and many regional and commuter trains in cities like Berlin were also not in operation.

It comes as disgruntled farmers blocked motorway slip roads and snarled traffic elsewhere with their tractors as part of a separate protest against a government plan to scrap tax breaks on diesel used in agriculture.

Images shared on social media showed horrendous traffic jams clogging up roads in several German cities, and a line of dozens of tractors blocked the main avenue leading to the Brandenburg Gate.

‘The strike by the train drivers’ union GDL has had a massive impact on train services in Germany,’ said Deutsche Bahn spokeswoman Anja Broeker. ‘We regret the restrictions and hope that many people who were unable to reschedule their journey will get to their destination.’

Images shared on social media showed horrendous traffic jams clogging up roads in several German cities, and a line of dozens of tractors blocked the main avenue leading to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin amid farmers' protests

Images shared on social media showed horrendous traffic jams clogging up roads in several German cities, and a line of dozens of tractors blocked the main avenue leading to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin amid farmers’ protests

A view of empty Berlin Central Station on January 10, 2024 in Germany amid widespread rail strikes

A view of empty Berlin Central Station on January 10, 2024 in Germany amid widespread rail strikes

A sign at Hauptbahnhof main railway station in Berlin informs passengers that S-Bahn commuter trains, which are run by Deutsche Bahn, are not running on the first day of a 64-hour nationwide railway strike on January 10, 2024

A sign at Hauptbahnhof main railway station in Berlin informs passengers that S-Bahn commuter trains, which are run by Deutsche Bahn, are not running on the first day of a 64-hour nationwide railway strike on January 10, 2024

Farmers with hundreds of tractors take part in a protest rally in Augsburg, southern Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024

Farmers with hundreds of tractors take part in a protest rally in Augsburg, southern Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024

Farmers park their tractors in the city centre as they demonstrate against government plans to scrap diesel tax subsidies for agriculture vehicles in Dresden, eastern Germany

Farmers park their tractors in the city centre as they demonstrate against government plans to scrap diesel tax subsidies for agriculture vehicles in Dresden, eastern Germany

Farmers demonstrate against government plans to scrap diesel tax subsidies for agriculture vehicles

Farmers demonstrate against government plans to scrap diesel tax subsidies for agriculture vehicles

Farmers drive their tractors along the Elbe river in the city centre as they demonstrate against government plans to scrap diesel tax subsidies for agriculture vehicles in Dresden, eastern Germany, on January 10, 2024

Farmers drive their tractors along the Elbe river in the city centre as they demonstrate against government plans to scrap diesel tax subsidies for agriculture vehicles in Dresden, eastern Germany, on January 10, 2024

The GDL union’s strike on cargo trains began on Tuesday evening.

In the wage dispute, the GDL union had already called two previous warning strikes last year, which lasted a maximum of 24 hours in passenger transport. The current strike lasts until Friday at 6 p.m.

Deutsche Bahn had tried to legally prevent the strike until the very end, but on Tuesday night a court ordered that the strike could go ahead.

Late last month, members of GDL voted overwhelmingly to stage open-ended strikes in a bitter dispute.

In addition to pay raises, the central issue is the union’s call for shift workers’ hours to be reduced from 38 to 35 hours per week without a pay reduction.

GDL argues that it would make working for the railway more attractive and help attract new recruits, while Deutsche Bahn says the demand can’t practically be met.

Germany’s Transportation Minister Volker Wissing called on both sides to return to the negotiating table.

‘A way has to be found that both sides can get along with,’ the minister told daily newspaper Bild. ‘That means talking to each other. I urge both sides to return to the negotiating table.’

However, union head Claus Weselsky said it was now up to Deutsche Bahn to present an improved offer.

If there’s no new offer until Friday, ‘we’ll take a break and go into the next strike,’ Weselsky said in an interview on public broadcaster ZDF’s morning show after the start of the train drivers’ strike.

The train drivers’ strike coincides with an unrelated one-week strike by farmers who have been blocking city streets and highway access roads in parts of the country since Monday. 

Production at a Volkswagen car plant in Emden in northwestern Germany has been stopped because employees could not get to work.

And protesters last week blockaded a port, preventing Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from disembarking a ferry as he returned from a personal trip to an offshore island. 

Farmers with their tractors block a street during farmers rally as part of Nationwide farmers' strike in Ellwangen, Germany, 10 January 2024. Farmers went on strike nationwide in Germany, in a protest against the federal government's agricultural policy

Farmers with their tractors block a street during farmers rally as part of Nationwide farmers’ strike in Ellwangen, Germany, 10 January 2024. Farmers went on strike nationwide in Germany, in a protest against the federal government’s agricultural policy

Farmers with their tractors block a street during farmers rally as part of Nationwide farmers' strike in Ellwangen, Germany

Farmers with their tractors block a street during farmers rally as part of Nationwide farmers’ strike in Ellwangen, Germany

A farmer directs the traffic as their tractors block the A12 motorway exit near Storkow town

A farmer directs the traffic as their tractors block the A12 motorway exit near Storkow town

A farmer sits next to fire as farmers with their tractors block the A12 motorway exit near Storkow town during farmers rally as part of Nationwide farmers' strike in Brandenburg, Germany, 10 January 2024

A farmer sits next to fire as farmers with their tractors block the A12 motorway exit near Storkow town during farmers rally as part of Nationwide farmers’ strike in Brandenburg, Germany, 10 January 2024

Farmers with their tractors and banner reading "Without agriculture you would be hungry, naked and thirsty" demonstrate against government plans to scrap diesel tax subsidies for agriculture vehicle

Farmers with their tractors and banner reading ‘Without agriculture you would be hungry, naked and thirsty’ demonstrate against government plans to scrap diesel tax subsidies for agriculture vehicle

Farmers demonstrate against government plans to scrap diesel tax subsidies for agriculture vehicles in Dresden, eastern Germany, on January 10, 2024

Farmers demonstrate against government plans to scrap diesel tax subsidies for agriculture vehicles in Dresden, eastern Germany, on January 10, 2024

A tractor carries a hanging dummy and a banner reading 'If the farmer dies, the country dies!' on a field during a cold morning on the second day of a nationwide farmers' strike near Bernau bei Berlin, 10 km northeast of Berlin, Germany, 09 January 2024

A tractor carries a hanging dummy and a banner reading ‘If the farmer dies, the country dies!’ on a field during a cold morning on the second day of a nationwide farmers’ strike near Bernau bei Berlin, 10 km northeast of Berlin, Germany, 09 January 2024

A farmer has attached a banner on his tractor reading 'We fight for the future of our farms and our children'

A farmer has attached a banner on his tractor reading ‘We fight for the future of our farms and our children’

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular three-party coalition infuriated the farmers last month by drawing up plans to abolish a car tax exemption for farming vehicles and the diesel tax breaks. 

The government on Thursday climbed down partially, saying that the car tax exemption would be retained and the cuts in the diesel tax breaks would be staggered over three years. 

But the German Farmers’ Association said this was not enough and insists the plans must be reversed fully if the government wants to avoid demonstrations. 

Joachim Rukwied, the head of German farmers’ association DBV, asked the public for sympathy in an interview published on Monday.

‘We do not want to lose the support and solidarity we have received from large parts of the population,’ he told Stern magazine, but said the farmers ‘will not accept the planned tax hikes for the agricultural sector.’

Germany’s ailing economy is experiencing a turbulent start to the year amid the nationwide farmers’ protests.

The economy, Europe’s biggest, was also the weakest among its large euro zone peers last year, as high energy costs, feeble global orders and record-high interest rates took their toll.

The government then suffered a huge blow in November when Germany’s top court threw out its 2024 budget plans, forcing divisive political wrangling over how to fill a 17 billion euro funding gap.

The ill-fated plan to scrap tax exemptions for farming vehicles was one proposed solution. 

Scholz’ coalition watered down its proposals last week in its hastily reworked budget to cut diesel subsidies.

Rather than abruptly ending the farmers’ tax break, the subsidy will be reduced by 40% this year, by 30% in 2025, and will end from 2026, under the amended plan.

The government also dropped plans to abolish the preferential treatment in vehicle tax for forestry and agriculture.

But Rukwied said this did not go far enough and kept plans for nationwide rallies this week.