Strike update
news is positive so far but strike is still possible...hope they resolve it soon...
===============
IG Metall bends, but strike still possible
By Carter Dougherty International Herald Tribune
SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 2006
FRANKFURT Germany's IG Metall union backed away Friday from demands for a 5 percent pay increase, but negotiators failed to clinch a deal that would avert a strike in the country's metalworking industry - a bellwether that includes giant companies like DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
Coming as the German economy wakes up after several years of stagnation, the past week of tense negotiations has drawn the attention of the European Central Bank, which fears a generous settlement in Germany will set the tone for all of Europe and help fuel inflation, which is already over the ECB's rough target of 2 percent a year.
Combined with record oil prices, a settlement in favor of the unions could lead companies to raise prices for consumers, a development that senior bank officials have said they want to avoid.
But after several years of "wage moderation" after the 2001 economic downturn, IG Metall has said it is determined to wrest higher wages from the employers' association, Gesamtmetall, whose highly profitable membership of 3,800 encompasses manufacturing giants like Porsche but also smaller companies that make machine tools, knives and other products.
If there is no agreement by midnight Monday, IG Metall is expected to ask its 3.4 million members to vote on whether to strike.
During a negotiating session Friday in Düsseldorf, IG Metall - which had been demanding a 5 percent wage increase - proposed a pay raise of 3.4 percent and a one-off payment of 0.4 percent that would depend on company profitability.
Gesamtmetall countered with an offer of a 2 percent increase this year - up from an earlier proposal for 1.8 percent - followed by the same amount next year and one-time bonuses. But it also wanted to extend the contract with no extra payments each month, prompting criticism from IG Metall that the companies were not really offering anything.
"The employers have changed nothing on their previous offer," an IG Metall spokesman, Wolfgang Nettelstroth, said. "They have made no substantial change to their position."
The negotiations Friday affect the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most-populous, and an agreement would set the tone for settlements elsewhere. Talks collapsed this past week in the southern state of Bavaria, but another round affecting Baden-Württemberg - home to DaimlerChrysler and Porsche - is scheduled for Monday.
The latest negotiating efforts follow weeks of public posturing that included warning strikes by IG Metall, which brought hundreds of thousands of workers off the job over the past month, though only for a few hours at a time.
FRANKFURT Germany's IG Metall union backed away Friday from demands for a 5 percent pay increase, but negotiators failed to clinch a deal that would avert a strike in the country's metalworking industry - a bellwether that includes giant companies like DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
Coming as the German economy wakes up after several years of stagnation, the past week of tense negotiations has drawn the attention of the European Central Bank, which fears a generous settlement in Germany will set the tone for all of Europe and help fuel inflation, which is already over the ECB's rough target of 2 percent a year.
Combined with record oil prices, a settlement in favor of the unions could lead companies to raise prices for consumers, a development that senior bank officials have said they want to avoid.
But after several years of "wage moderation" after the 2001 economic downturn, IG Metall has said it is determined to wrest higher wages from the employers' association, Gesamtmetall, whose highly profitable membership of 3,800 encompasses manufacturing giants like Porsche but also smaller companies that make machine tools, knives and other products.
If there is no agreement by midnight Monday, IG Metall is expected to ask its 3.4 million members to vote on whether to strike.
During a negotiating session Friday in Düsseldorf, IG Metall - which had been demanding a 5 percent wage increase - proposed a pay raise of 3.4 percent and a one-off payment of 0.4 percent that would depend on company profitability.
Gesamtmetall countered with an offer of a 2 percent increase this year - up from an earlier proposal for 1.8 percent - followed by the same amount next year and one-time bonuses. But it also wanted to extend the contract with no extra payments each month, prompting criticism from IG Metall that the companies were not really offering anything.
"The employers have changed nothing on their previous offer," an IG Metall spokesman, Wolfgang Nettelstroth, said. "They have made no substantial change to their position."
The negotiations Friday affect the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most-populous, and an agreement would set the tone for settlements elsewhere. Talks collapsed this past week in the southern state of Bavaria, but another round affecting Baden-Württemberg - home to DaimlerChrysler and Porsche - is scheduled for Monday.
The latest negotiating efforts follow weeks of public posturing that included warning strikes by IG Metall, which brought hundreds of thousands of workers off the job over the past month, though only for a few hours at a time.
FRANKFURT Germany's IG Metall union backed away Friday from demands for a 5 percent pay increase, but negotiators failed to clinch a deal that would avert a strike in the country's metalworking industry - a bellwether that includes giant companies like DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
Coming as the German economy wakes up after several years of stagnation, the past week of tense negotiations has drawn the attention of the European Central Bank, which fears a generous settlement in Germany will set the tone for all of Europe and help fuel inflation, which is already over the ECB's rough target of 2 percent a year.
Combined with record oil prices, a settlement in favor of the unions could lead companies to raise prices for consumers, a development that senior bank officials have said they want to avoid.
But after several years of "wage moderation" after the 2001 economic downturn, IG Metall has said it is determined to wrest higher wages from the employers' association, Gesamtmetall, whose highly profitable membership of 3,800 encompasses manufacturing giants like Porsche but also smaller companies that make machine tools, knives and other products.
If there is no agreement by midnight Monday, IG Metall is expected to ask its 3.4 million members to vote on whether to strike.
During a negotiating session Friday in Düsseldorf, IG Metall - which had been demanding a 5 percent wage increase - proposed a pay raise of 3.4 percent and a one-off payment of 0.4 percent that would depend on company profitability.
Gesamtmetall countered with an offer of a 2 percent increase this year - up from an earlier proposal for 1.8 percent - followed by the same amount next year and one-time bonuses. But it also wanted to extend the contract with no extra payments each month, prompting criticism from IG Metall that the companies were not really offering anything.
"The employers have changed nothing on their previous offer," an IG Metall spokesman, Wolfgang Nettelstroth, said. "They have made no substantial change to their position."
The negotiations Friday affect the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most-populous, and an agreement would set the tone for settlements elsewhere. Talks collapsed this past week in the southern state of Bavaria, but another round affecting Baden-Württemberg - home to DaimlerChrysler and Porsche - is scheduled for Monday.
The latest negotiating efforts follow weeks of public posturing that included warning strikes by IG Metall, which brought hundreds of thousands of workers off the job over the past month, though only for a few hours at a time.
FRANKFURT Germany's IG Metall union backed away Friday from demands for a 5 percent pay increase, but negotiators failed to clinch a deal that would avert a strike in the country's metalworking industry - a bellwether that includes giant companies like DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
Coming as the German economy wakes up after several years of stagnation, the past week of tense negotiations has drawn the attention of the European Central Bank, which fears a generous settlement in Germany will set the tone for all of Europe and help fuel inflation, which is already over the ECB's rough target of 2 percent a year.
Combined with record oil prices, a settlement in favor of the unions could lead companies to raise prices for consumers, a development that senior bank officials have said they want to avoid.
But after several years of "wage moderation" after the 2001 economic downturn, IG Metall has said it is determined to wrest higher wages from the employers' association, Gesamtmetall, whose highly profitable membership of 3,800 encompasses manufacturing giants like Porsche but also smaller companies that make machine tools, knives and other products.
If there is no agreement by midnight Monday, IG Metall is expected to ask its 3.4 million members to vote on whether to strike.
During a negotiating session Friday in Düsseldorf, IG Metall - which had been demanding a 5 percent wage increase - proposed a pay raise of 3.4 percent and a one-off payment of 0.4 percent that would depend on company profitability.
Gesamtmetall countered with an offer of a 2 percent increase this year - up from an earlier proposal for 1.8 percent - followed by the same amount next year and one-time bonuses. But it also wanted to extend the contract with no extra payments each month, prompting criticism from IG Metall that the companies were not really offering anything.
"The employers have changed nothing on their previous offer," an IG Metall spokesman, Wolfgang Nettelstroth, said. "They have made no substantial change to their position."
The negotiations Friday affect the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most-populous, and an agreement would set the tone for settlements elsewhere. Talks collapsed this past week in the southern state of Bavaria, but another round affecting Baden-Württemberg - home to DaimlerChrysler and Porsche - is scheduled for Monday.
The latest negotiating efforts follow weeks of public posturing that included warning strikes by IG Metall, which brought hundreds of thousands of workers off the job over the past month, though only for a few hours at a time.
===============
IG Metall bends, but strike still possible
By Carter Dougherty International Herald Tribune
SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 2006
FRANKFURT Germany's IG Metall union backed away Friday from demands for a 5 percent pay increase, but negotiators failed to clinch a deal that would avert a strike in the country's metalworking industry - a bellwether that includes giant companies like DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
Coming as the German economy wakes up after several years of stagnation, the past week of tense negotiations has drawn the attention of the European Central Bank, which fears a generous settlement in Germany will set the tone for all of Europe and help fuel inflation, which is already over the ECB's rough target of 2 percent a year.
Combined with record oil prices, a settlement in favor of the unions could lead companies to raise prices for consumers, a development that senior bank officials have said they want to avoid.
But after several years of "wage moderation" after the 2001 economic downturn, IG Metall has said it is determined to wrest higher wages from the employers' association, Gesamtmetall, whose highly profitable membership of 3,800 encompasses manufacturing giants like Porsche but also smaller companies that make machine tools, knives and other products.
If there is no agreement by midnight Monday, IG Metall is expected to ask its 3.4 million members to vote on whether to strike.
During a negotiating session Friday in Düsseldorf, IG Metall - which had been demanding a 5 percent wage increase - proposed a pay raise of 3.4 percent and a one-off payment of 0.4 percent that would depend on company profitability.
Gesamtmetall countered with an offer of a 2 percent increase this year - up from an earlier proposal for 1.8 percent - followed by the same amount next year and one-time bonuses. But it also wanted to extend the contract with no extra payments each month, prompting criticism from IG Metall that the companies were not really offering anything.
"The employers have changed nothing on their previous offer," an IG Metall spokesman, Wolfgang Nettelstroth, said. "They have made no substantial change to their position."
The negotiations Friday affect the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most-populous, and an agreement would set the tone for settlements elsewhere. Talks collapsed this past week in the southern state of Bavaria, but another round affecting Baden-Württemberg - home to DaimlerChrysler and Porsche - is scheduled for Monday.
The latest negotiating efforts follow weeks of public posturing that included warning strikes by IG Metall, which brought hundreds of thousands of workers off the job over the past month, though only for a few hours at a time.
FRANKFURT Germany's IG Metall union backed away Friday from demands for a 5 percent pay increase, but negotiators failed to clinch a deal that would avert a strike in the country's metalworking industry - a bellwether that includes giant companies like DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
Coming as the German economy wakes up after several years of stagnation, the past week of tense negotiations has drawn the attention of the European Central Bank, which fears a generous settlement in Germany will set the tone for all of Europe and help fuel inflation, which is already over the ECB's rough target of 2 percent a year.
Combined with record oil prices, a settlement in favor of the unions could lead companies to raise prices for consumers, a development that senior bank officials have said they want to avoid.
But after several years of "wage moderation" after the 2001 economic downturn, IG Metall has said it is determined to wrest higher wages from the employers' association, Gesamtmetall, whose highly profitable membership of 3,800 encompasses manufacturing giants like Porsche but also smaller companies that make machine tools, knives and other products.
If there is no agreement by midnight Monday, IG Metall is expected to ask its 3.4 million members to vote on whether to strike.
During a negotiating session Friday in Düsseldorf, IG Metall - which had been demanding a 5 percent wage increase - proposed a pay raise of 3.4 percent and a one-off payment of 0.4 percent that would depend on company profitability.
Gesamtmetall countered with an offer of a 2 percent increase this year - up from an earlier proposal for 1.8 percent - followed by the same amount next year and one-time bonuses. But it also wanted to extend the contract with no extra payments each month, prompting criticism from IG Metall that the companies were not really offering anything.
"The employers have changed nothing on their previous offer," an IG Metall spokesman, Wolfgang Nettelstroth, said. "They have made no substantial change to their position."
The negotiations Friday affect the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most-populous, and an agreement would set the tone for settlements elsewhere. Talks collapsed this past week in the southern state of Bavaria, but another round affecting Baden-Württemberg - home to DaimlerChrysler and Porsche - is scheduled for Monday.
The latest negotiating efforts follow weeks of public posturing that included warning strikes by IG Metall, which brought hundreds of thousands of workers off the job over the past month, though only for a few hours at a time.
FRANKFURT Germany's IG Metall union backed away Friday from demands for a 5 percent pay increase, but negotiators failed to clinch a deal that would avert a strike in the country's metalworking industry - a bellwether that includes giant companies like DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
Coming as the German economy wakes up after several years of stagnation, the past week of tense negotiations has drawn the attention of the European Central Bank, which fears a generous settlement in Germany will set the tone for all of Europe and help fuel inflation, which is already over the ECB's rough target of 2 percent a year.
Combined with record oil prices, a settlement in favor of the unions could lead companies to raise prices for consumers, a development that senior bank officials have said they want to avoid.
But after several years of "wage moderation" after the 2001 economic downturn, IG Metall has said it is determined to wrest higher wages from the employers' association, Gesamtmetall, whose highly profitable membership of 3,800 encompasses manufacturing giants like Porsche but also smaller companies that make machine tools, knives and other products.
If there is no agreement by midnight Monday, IG Metall is expected to ask its 3.4 million members to vote on whether to strike.
During a negotiating session Friday in Düsseldorf, IG Metall - which had been demanding a 5 percent wage increase - proposed a pay raise of 3.4 percent and a one-off payment of 0.4 percent that would depend on company profitability.
Gesamtmetall countered with an offer of a 2 percent increase this year - up from an earlier proposal for 1.8 percent - followed by the same amount next year and one-time bonuses. But it also wanted to extend the contract with no extra payments each month, prompting criticism from IG Metall that the companies were not really offering anything.
"The employers have changed nothing on their previous offer," an IG Metall spokesman, Wolfgang Nettelstroth, said. "They have made no substantial change to their position."
The negotiations Friday affect the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most-populous, and an agreement would set the tone for settlements elsewhere. Talks collapsed this past week in the southern state of Bavaria, but another round affecting Baden-Württemberg - home to DaimlerChrysler and Porsche - is scheduled for Monday.
The latest negotiating efforts follow weeks of public posturing that included warning strikes by IG Metall, which brought hundreds of thousands of workers off the job over the past month, though only for a few hours at a time.
FRANKFURT Germany's IG Metall union backed away Friday from demands for a 5 percent pay increase, but negotiators failed to clinch a deal that would avert a strike in the country's metalworking industry - a bellwether that includes giant companies like DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
Coming as the German economy wakes up after several years of stagnation, the past week of tense negotiations has drawn the attention of the European Central Bank, which fears a generous settlement in Germany will set the tone for all of Europe and help fuel inflation, which is already over the ECB's rough target of 2 percent a year.
Combined with record oil prices, a settlement in favor of the unions could lead companies to raise prices for consumers, a development that senior bank officials have said they want to avoid.
But after several years of "wage moderation" after the 2001 economic downturn, IG Metall has said it is determined to wrest higher wages from the employers' association, Gesamtmetall, whose highly profitable membership of 3,800 encompasses manufacturing giants like Porsche but also smaller companies that make machine tools, knives and other products.
If there is no agreement by midnight Monday, IG Metall is expected to ask its 3.4 million members to vote on whether to strike.
During a negotiating session Friday in Düsseldorf, IG Metall - which had been demanding a 5 percent wage increase - proposed a pay raise of 3.4 percent and a one-off payment of 0.4 percent that would depend on company profitability.
Gesamtmetall countered with an offer of a 2 percent increase this year - up from an earlier proposal for 1.8 percent - followed by the same amount next year and one-time bonuses. But it also wanted to extend the contract with no extra payments each month, prompting criticism from IG Metall that the companies were not really offering anything.
"The employers have changed nothing on their previous offer," an IG Metall spokesman, Wolfgang Nettelstroth, said. "They have made no substantial change to their position."
The negotiations Friday affect the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most-populous, and an agreement would set the tone for settlements elsewhere. Talks collapsed this past week in the southern state of Bavaria, but another round affecting Baden-Württemberg - home to DaimlerChrysler and Porsche - is scheduled for Monday.
The latest negotiating efforts follow weeks of public posturing that included warning strikes by IG Metall, which brought hundreds of thousands of workers off the job over the past month, though only for a few hours at a time.
