Berlin - Thousands of workers in Germany's public services walked off the job for limited periods Tuesday in token strikes aimed at pressing local and federal authorities to accede to demands for higher pay. The Verdi services union called out 16,000 of its members in the country's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.
The union, Germany's second-largest union with a membership of some 2.2 million, said it expected 5,000 to attend a rally in the state capital of Dusseldorf.
Verdi negotiating head Achim Meerkamp told the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper that the fifth round of talks with employers, set for Potsdam near Berlin on March 6, would be the last before the union balloted members on a strike.
"If we do not find a solution through negotiations, there will be a drawn-out conflict," Meerkamp said, adding the union was not prepared to go to arbitration to end the dispute.
In Berlin, some 800 security staff joined the strike, along with 400 employed by the prisons service.
In the northern naval port of Kiel, 1,000 naval staff joined the so-called "warning strikes," which are generally of short duration.
Town halls, child daycare centres and city cleaning services were also hit.
Verdi is demanding 8 per cent more pay for 1.3 million workers, with an increase of 200 euros (290 dollars) a month for the lowest paid. The employers are offering 5 per cent and aim to increase the working week to 40 hours from 38.5 hours currently.
German workers have seen real take-home pay stagnate, or even decline, in recent years in response to calls for wage restraint in the face of low growth.
Stronger economic growth of 2.9 per cent in 2006 and 2.5 per cent last year has provided ammunition for demands in various sectors for a substantial pay rise.
