Rail strike threatens fete for 25th anniversary of Berlin Wall’s fall

In Germany, no tradition trumps the annual celebration marking the fall of the Berlin Wall, whose 25th anniversary the government plans to mark this weekend with apt pomp.

No tradition, that is, except for train strikes.

A walkout by Deutsche Bahn workers serving passenger trains is set to begin just after midnight Wednesday, threatening chaos and closures as the quarter-century commemorations loom.

The GDL union says passenger train employees will step away from their jobs beginning early Thursday and won’t resume work until Monday morning, a period that includes this weekend’s celebrations. Freight train workers will begin the strike on Wednesday afternoon.

The four-day strike would be the longest since Deutsche Bahn was formed 20 years ago.

The work stoppage comes as Germany and much of Europe is focused on marking Nov. 9, 1989, when Berliners began tearing down the wall that had divided the city during the Cold War.

Events honoring the occasion will begin in Berlin as early as Friday and reach a crescendo Sunday with performances by the likes of Peter Gabriel at the Brandenburg Gate and the inauguration by German Chancellor Angela Merkel of a new exhibit at the Berlin Wall memorial.

The celebrations are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people to the streets. The strike would limit Germans’ ability to travel to Berlin from other cities and, given that it will affect intracity S-Bahn service, also impact those traveling within the capital.

Deutsche Bahn and GDL officials have been at odds over working hours and salary, with the union seeking two hours off the work week and a 5% increase in pay for its 20,000 workers. The two sides also disagree over whether GDL should have the right to negotiate on behalf of workers who are part of EVG, another public-transport union.

A deal appeared imminent several days ago, but talks broke down at the eleventh hour.

By calling for a strike to run through the weekend, the union seeks to gain negotiating leverage as Germany prepares for Wall celebrations. However, a public backlash has been growing, with users on social media lamenting the strike’s timing and questioning whether German unions have too much power.

The battle involving Germany’s national carrier has been waging for nearly two months, with a strike in October affecting an estimated two-thirds of the nation’s intercity passengers.

On Wednesday, union and Deutsche Bahn leaders continued to trade accusations in the media as management charged the union with holding the German people hostage during Wall celebrations and union officials responding that management was bullying them.

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