Despite not striking over the upcoming holidays the German train drivers’ union (GDL) announced that strikes will pick up again next year and “be longer and more intense,” GDL leader Claus Weselsky told Bayerischer Rundfunk radio on Thursday. The announcement came as the GDL wanted to increase the pressure in the current collective bargaining round. The union is demanding a reduction in working hours for shift workers. A ballot on indefinite strikes is already under way in the unusually tough collective bargaining round for train drivers. “We will count the ballot on December 19 and will not s…