Travelers all over Germany were faced with delays on Monday morning after disgruntled Deutsche Bahn workers held warning strikes.

Strikes took place all over Germany, affecting thousands of travelers. The protests were centered around railway depots in Frankfurt, Munich, Rostock, Wismar and elsewhere. Depot workers held strikes in the early hours of Monday morning, meaning trains were not ready in time or could not leave the depot.

Delays were reported in Dortmund, Freiburg, Karlsruhe and Erfurt, and the early morning strikes were expected to cause knock-on delays throughout the day.

Rail unions Transnet and GDBA are calling for a 7 percent salary rise for about 134,000 employees. Deutsche Bahn has until now only offered two increases of 2 percent each, arguing that an excessive wage increase could put up to 9,000 jobs at risk. The strikes came after weekend talks between Deutsche Bahn and the two unions broke down.

The duration of the strikes will depend on Deutsche Bahn, union leaders said. "We will immediately begin further negotiations as soon as the employer says that he is ready to improve the offer," Alexander Kirchner, a board member at the union Transnet, told the radio station Deutschlandfunk.

Rail passengers in Germany can expect further disruptions this week -- train drivers belonging to a third union, the GDL, announced Monday they would strike Tuesday from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m..