GERMAN METALWORKERS' WAGE TALKS BEGIN WEDNESDAY
Negotiations scheduled between the
metalworkers' IG Metall union and employers to resolve an
impasse over a new contract will start on Wednesday, the union
said in a statement.
    IG Metall is demanding a 35-hour week, with a parallel
increase in wages of five pct. Employers Gesamtmetall have
offered a half-hour shortening in the current working week, to
38 hours, and an initial rise of 2.8 pct.
    IG Metall, under newly-elected leader Franz Steinkuehler,
proposed the talks on Thursday, after regional negotiations in
the northern part of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg collapsed.
 REUTER
