German companies have warned that a nearly two day long rail strike underway there threatens to disrupt manufacturing. Freight train drivers walked off the job after rejecting an offer from Deutsche Bahn for a new round of wage talks. Economists calculate that each day of the freight strike will cost the national economy 50 million euros.
One driver said: "We're not striking for the sake of it, we're fighting for a good outcome. We don't feel good about it, but we'll continue as long as needs be. We don't want to strike, we want to go back to work as soon as possible, if we get a decent wage.
Chemicals company Ineos is one of those affected. Manager Patrick Giefers said a longer rail stoppage would be problematic for them: "We might not be able to ship our products to customers. Then our storage tanks would fill up as we only have limited storage capacity and in the worst case scenario we'd have to stop production."
About 18% of goods transported in Germany go by rail - especially raw materials. Not all rail freight traffic has been stopped. Nearly half of the drivers are civil servants who are barred from striking.
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