Union unleashes German pay strikes

GERMANY'S powerful IG Metall union opted for widespread all-out strikes today, with any 11th-hour hope of industrial peace torpedoed by leader Klaus Zwickel who warned: 'Anyone who gets in our way will get a bloody nose.'

The strikes are expected to be staged first in the key industrial regions of Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg. Talks on a 6.5% pay claim broke down on Friday and the walkouts could begin as early as 6 May.

'I don't see any chance of further negotiation,' said Zwickel. IG Metall has almost three million members in all sectors of German industry. The news is especially bad for Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who is banking on an economic upswing to propel him back into office at the General Election in September.

The union, a traditional supporter of the Social Democrats, has lost faith in policies it says are aimed at 'trimming budgets instead of creating social equality'. Managements last week offered pay increases of 3.3% over 15 months but the union said 4% was a minimum. Now all bets are off and the 6.5% demand is the only one on the table.

The board of IG Metall is to authorise strike votes in several regions but Zwickel said: 'The probability of a strike is 100%.'

The head of the national employers' association, Dieter Hundt, called for more talks. 'I am using every opportunity to remind IG Metall to return to good sense,' he said, adding that a strike would mean 'the tender shoot of recovery is trampled underfoot'. Germany's economy is just emerging from recession and economists say a lengthy action could delay or weaken a recovery.

Union officials said that ballots seeking the 75% approval needed for strikes to begin should be completed by the end of this month, and that the national leadership will meet again on 2 or 3 May to decide which companies will be hit.