German state-owned railway Deutsche Bahn has struck a deal with the train drivers' union GDL to end a long and bitter collective bargaining dispute that included multiple disruptive strikes.
The GDL trade union announced the deal on Monday evening, but said details of the wage agreement would only be provided on Tuesday morning at separate press conferences called by Deutsche Bahn and the trade union.
A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn confirmed upon request that an agreement had been reached.
Both Deutsche Bahn and GDL boss Claus Weselsky had recently expressed confidence that a solution to the conflict would be reached soon.
Strikes in recent months by GDL had forced Deutsche Bahn to cancel around 80% of its passenger rail service, and also caused major issues for freight traffic as well.
From the outset, the sticking point in the collective bargaining talks was the GDL's demand for a shorter 35-hour working week for train drivers, down from the current full-time weekly work schedule of 38 hours.
In the most recent negotiations, Deutsche Bahn instead offered a working week of 36 hours, to be phased in over two stages by 2028. However, the trade union rejected that proposal and went out on two further brief strikes.
Around a week ago, Deutsche Bahn and the GDL announced that they would resume talks, this time behind closed doors, and would bring in external mediators if necessary.
The labour dispute began at the start of November and involved a total of six strikes by the train drivers.
