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31-Mar-08 10:15 [Europe, Middle East and Africa]
German public sector staff move closer to strike action Strikes by public sector staff in Germany are becoming more likely as the latest negotiations to resolve the dispute over pay and employee reward stalled.
Members of the union Ver.di, including bus drivers and garbage collectors may take industrial action after the latest pay offer was rejected.
Ver.di chairman Frank Bsirske said: "This is making an agreement look rather unlikely at the moment."
Wolfgang Schaeuble, the interior minister, who is leading the negotiations for federal employers, said: "We will do what we can but we won't do anything we can't justify."
It is thought that the union is looking for a pay rise for its members of eight per cent due to consumer prices in Germany rising due to higher food and energy costs recently.
Talks will continue between employers and the union however of they are unsuccessful Ver.di will ballot its members on open-ended strikes which could start after 12th April 2008.
Ver.di has approximately 2.4 million members employed in over 1,000 different trades.
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