Rail services have been disrupted in parts of western and southern Germany by a strike over pay inequality. Unions are demanding an improved pay offer from the national rail operator Deutsche Bahn and private companies. They say private rail companies pay up to 20 per cent less for the same work and are demanding that the wages should be set at the same level across the industry. Railway workers won a 4.5 per cent increase and improved working hours in 2009 after a series of strikes.