With no settlement on wage raises yet in sight in negotiations over a general contract for its 2.7 million members, Germany's largest trade union carried through on its plans to expand warning strikes into western areas of the country today (see WIT for March 27, 2002). With economists predicting a recovery this year from the economic slump Germany has experienced in recent years, the auto, electronics, and metal workers union is hoping to recoup losses in members' real wages last year due to inflation. Economists and politicians are concerned, however, that a significant raise for IG Metall workers could jeopardize this recovery, as well as the reelection prospects of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder---as could a protracted full-scale strike.
See "German Union Plans Walkouts Over Pay", The Associated Press, The New York Times, March 31, 2002