(The Associated Press published the following article on March 31.)
BERLIN — A pay dispute between Germany’s national railroad and its train engineers moved toward a close Monday as arbitrators recommended a settlement that would give them a 3.2 percent raise next year.
The proposed settlement echoes a deal reached March 15 with labor unions that represent other employees at Deutsche Bahn, railroad spokesman Uwe Herz said. Railroad managers and leaders of the GdL engineers’ union are expected to approve the proposal later this week, he added.
The deal will see workers receive two payments of 200 euros (US$216) each this year, followed by a 3.2 percent raise from May 1, 2004. It also will bring pay for employees in formerly communist eastern Germany up to parity with that of those in the more affluent west by 2006.
Rail workers staged a series of short stoppages in early March, and striking engineers on March 6 briefly brought trains to a halt across the country. Later that day, the GdL union walked out of pay talks with Deutsche Bahn, taking the dispute to arbitration.
GdL went into the pay talks seeking a 3 percent wage increase this year. The rail company, which is in the middle of an efficiency drive to make it fit for possible privatization, had warned that a big pay rise could force it to lay off more staff.