German rail operator Deutsche Bahn has offered the train drivers' union GDL a resumption of the stalled wage negotiations, a company spokesman said in Berlin on Friday.
The talks would take place on Monday if the union agrees, he said. The GDL says it will only accept the invitation if the railway presents a new and improved wage offer. It has set the railway company a deadline of 6 pm (1700 GMT) on Sunday.
According to information from sources close to the negotiations, the company clarifies in its letter to the union that it had not rejected the mediators' proposal to reduce weekly working hours. Rather, on February 26 the company declared its willingness to "go beyond [its] pain threshold and bring the negotiations to a conclusion on the basis of the moderators' overall proposal."
The latest 35-hour strike by train drivers ended at lunchtime on Friday. It caused huge disruptions to Deutsche Bahn's long-distance, regional and freight services. The full timetable is not to be resumed until Saturday.
With the end of this fifth round of industrial action, however, the uncertainty for Germany's rail customers continues. GDL boss Claus Weselsky wants to announce future strikes with much less advance notice than before.
It is therefore questionable whether the railway will be able to put together another basic timetable for the next strike. Weselsky emphasized that the railway would no longer be a reliable means of transport.
As for air traffic, the trade union verdi intends to continue the strike by ground staff of the German airline Lufthansa until 7:10 am (0610 GMT) on Saturday morning.
Lufthansa is therefore still expecting initial delays and some cancellations on Saturday. Air traffic should then normalize in the course of the morning.
The airline said about 1,000 flights will be cancelled on Friday, especially at the Munich and Frankfurt hubs, a company spokesman said, Only 10% to 20% of the normally scheduled flights will take place. he said.
In Frankfurt and Hamburg, passengers were able to board flights on Friday after airport security checkpoints had been closed the previous day due to a separate strike by security staff.
