German rail drivers say will not strike on Monday

BERLIN, Oct 21 (Reuters) German train drivers decided today not to strike tomorrow as a gesture to long-distance commuters, but vowed to walk off the job again soon if Deutsche Bahn did not improve its pay offer.

Guenther Kinscher, deputy chairman of the GDL union, told N-TV television that the union would not halt local rail services as it did for nine hours on Thursday, the latest in a series of one-day stoppages to press its pay demands.

''We have decided not to strike tomorrow out of courtesy to the long-distance commuters who don't have a lobby behind them,'' Kinscher said. ''It's especially for those from the eastern German states who have long commutes to their jobs in the west.'' Yesterday another deputy leader, Claus Weselsky, said the train drivers were likely to begin a three-day strike tomorrow to raise the stakes in their pay dispute.

REUTERS SKB PM1955