FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Postal and telephone workers in Germany staged brief strikes Monday, while construction workers began voting on more prolonged stoppages that could cast a shadow over the economy.þþSome 6,000 telecommunications workers briefly struck at Deutsche Telekom, the country's dominant phone company, the ver.di service workers' union said, with the stoppage slowing the taking of service orders and directory-information requests.þþThe so-called warning strikes union came as the union, which represents some 120,000 phone workers, prepared for negotiations over its demand for a 6.5 percent wage increase. The company has yet to make any offer.þþSeeking a similar hike, postal workers on Monday chose the north and east of the country for the latest in a series of brief stoppages. On Saturday millions of letters and packages failed to reach their destinations.þþMeanwhile, the IG BAU construction workers union began a strike vote that could lead to its first walkout in more than 50 years. Union officials are pushing for a 4.5 percent increase and for wages in the economically depressed east to be brought up to levels in the west. Talks with employers broke down June 1.þþA majority of 75 percent is required to approve a strike, which could begin as early as next week, union officials said.þþA strike would add to the woes of Germany's construction sector, where the No. 2 firm, Philipp Holzmann AG, went bankrupt earlier this year.þþChancellor Gerhard Schroeder has urged the parties to find an amicable solution, while economists and business leaders warn that a prolonged dispute or excessive pay award could hold back a hoped-for recovery in the economy.þþSchroeder is on the defensive over sluggish growth and stubbornly high unemployment. His Social Democratic Party trails opposition conservatives in polls ahead of the Sept. 22 parliamentary election.þþThomas Bauer, chief negotiator for employers, urged the union to return to negotiations. ``In such a difficult situation a strike would simply be a mistake,'' Bauer said in an interview on Deutschlandradio Berlin.þ
Source: NY Times
