A bitter strike by train drivers in Germany has tied up freight traffic, shut down an auto factory and stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers in what has become the German state rail system?s largest work stoppage. Since Thursday morning, when the three-day strike spread from freight trains to commuter and long-distance service, Germans have gotten a taste of the chaos in France, where the railroads are also paralyzed. But while the French strike is the result of a power struggle between the labor unions and a new government, the German job action reflects what labor experts regard as a bold gamble by an isolated union.
See "German Rail Strike Disrupts Travel and Freight", Mark Landler, The New York Times, November 15, 2007