Germany hit by fresh round of train strikes

The chief negotiator of Germany's EVG transport union has vowed "not a single train will run" on Friday as the latest round of industrial action on the country's rail network takes place.

Cosima Ingenschay made the vow ahead of a walkout affecting 50 rail companies, which will run from 3 am to 11 am on Friday, hitting rush-hour commuters, and which coincides with a separate strike at three airports across the country.

"The fact that we have to take this course of action is entirely the responsibility of the management who have so far refused to negotiate constructively," said a statement issued by the EVG.

With the union also threatening multi-day strikes unless there is some progress in a long-standing pay dispute with rail operator Deutsche Bahn, and calling the short period of action a "warning strike", the company's board member for human resources Martin Seiler accused the union of having "completely lost its sense of proportion" and being "only bent on chaos".

"We are sending a clear signal that we don't want to hit the passengers, but the companies, by calling for a temporary warning strike in the early hours this time," Ingenschay added.

The EVG, which represents 230,000 affected workers, wants a pay rise of 12 percent to deal with the rising cost of living, with inflation having been at 7.4 percent in March. Deutsche Bahn is only offering 5 percent, plus a one-off payment of up to 2,500 euros ($2,733).

At the same time, members of another union, Verdi, will stop security control work at three airports on the same day, with Hamburg Airport having already announced that all flights on Friday will be canceled. Dusseldorf and Bonn/Cologne airports will also be affected.

EVG representatives insisted that it was just coincidence that this action was happening on the same day, after a previous strike at the end of March by members of both unions caused huge disruption to transport services across the country.

Verdi represents around 2.5 million workers across the public sector, while EVG represents train and bus company employees.

"Rail and transport companies are already suffering from a major staff shortage and new employees can only be recruited if they are better paid," said an EVG statement, although employers have accused it of using the industrial action as a recruitment tool against a rival transport union that is not taking part in the strike.

The EVG has encouraged its members to take part in the strike, saying it had "to increase pressure on employers, who think that they can ignore the demands of their workforce and conduct wage negotiations in a patronizing way."