This is the best summary I could come up with:

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s train drivers brought rail traffic to a standstill again early Wednesday when they began a six-day strike to push their demands in a rancorous dispute with the country’s main railway operator over working hours and pay.

The strike by the GDL union will affect passenger services and freight trains operated by state-owned Deutsche Bahn until 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Monday.

“European freight traffic across the Alps, Poland or to Scandinavia as well as the seaports in Holland or Belgium will also be affected,” said Deutsche Bahn.

Even before the strike, a significant drop in cargo volumes had been registered because many customers had canceled shipments, German news agency dpa reported.

On Wednesday, the train operator again rejected the union’s proposals as a basis for further negotiations, calling them a “repetition of well-known maximum demands,” dpa reported.

“If things are so deadlocked that we obviously can no longer talk to each other, then we urgently need mediation or arbitration,” Volker Wissing said on public radio Deutschlandfunk.

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