BERLIN, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- A warning strike by the railway and traffic union (EVG) completely paralyzed long-distance rail traffic in Germany on Monday.
"We have decided to discontinue all long-distance train services in Germany until further notice," Germany's rail company Deutsche Bahn (DB) announced on Monday morning.
According to Deutsche Bahn, regional and suburban rail traffic in metropolitan areas as well as rail freight services throughout Germany were "massively affected" by the warning strike. Deutsche Bahn expects "severe restrictions" in rail traffic to continue throughout the entire day.
On Monday, the EVG union went on strike from 5:00 until 9:00 a.m. local time after wage negotiations with Deutsche Bahn failed to result in an agreement on Saturday. Deutsche Bahn had "only presented offers that did not meet the demands of our members," said EVG chief negotiator Regina Rusch-Ziemba on Saturday.
Deutsche Bahn announced that it was still willing to continue wage negotiations with the EVG. "DB has called on EVG to continue the negotiations this afternoon. It was not DB that left the negotiating table on Saturday and called for warning strikes," said a DB press spokeswoman on Monday.
After the strike was ended, Torsten Westphal, managing director of EVG, emphasized that "we will return to the negotiating table" on the condition that Deutsche Bahn "seriously wants to negotiate with us."
