German lower house passes law to curb power of smaller unions

By Caroline Copley BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's lower house of parliament passed a law on Friday to limit the power of smaller unions, whose strikes have paralysed train and air traffic in recent months, by making a wage deal with the largest union in a company applicable to all employees. Industry bodies have called for such a change in the law to stop smaller unions like GDL, which represents just 20,000 train drivers at Deutsche Bahn, from being able to halt the entire operations of a company that employs 200,000 people. "One company, one wage agreement. This principle has a long tradition in Germany and I think it is a good one," Social Democrat Labour Minister Andrea Nahles told parliament. The legislation comes a day after GDL agreed to suspend its latest strike in a dispute with Deutsche Bahn over pay and negotiating rights, after both sides agreed to non-binding arbitration. GDL has staged nine strikes in 10 months, affecting 5.5 million people who travel by rail each day as well as industries that rely on rail freight. Economists estimate the strikes have cost Germany's economy up to 100 million euros ($110 million) per day. In a long-running dispute with Lufthansa over early retirement benefits and cost cuts, the pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit has also staged more than a dozen costly strikes. Opponents say the law violates the basic right to strike, and that it threatens the survival of some smaller unions. But Nahles rejected the criticisms, and said smaller unions would be strengthened through cooperation. The striking pilots and train drivers have been pilloried by the media for stranding travellers at holiday weekends. Even Chancellor Angela Merkel, usually silent in industrial disputes, has urged the train drivers to act responsibly. The law, which was opposed by the Greens and the Left party, will be debated by the upper house of parliament on June 12 and is expected to come into force in July. (Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Kevin Liffey)