By Franz-Norbert Piontek
SINDELFINGEN, Germany, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Wage negotiations between Germany's engineering sector employers and the IG Metall union were stalled late on Tuesday after six hours of talks as the threat of all-out strikes loomed for next week.
'We're in a difficult corner,' a spokesman for the employers association told journalists covering the final scheduled round of talks that are expected to last deep into the night.
But neither the employers' spokesman nor an official from the union, Germany's largest, wanted to reveal any details about where the talks were stuck. The two sides adjourned earlier in the evening for separate consultations before resuming talks.
It was not immediately clear whether it was the usual tough posturing for their respective memberships or whether the talks were genuinely on the brink of failing.
When the latest round of talks in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg got underway earlier, representatives from employers and union IG Metall said they both saw less than a 50 percent chance of a deal being reached for the industry.
IG Metall is pushing for a raise of 8.0 percent for the sector's 3.6 million workers, its highest demand in 16 years. Employers in the sector have made an offer equivalent to a pay hike of 2.9 percent, which IG Metall has rejected as 'a joke.'
'I think there's less than a 50 percent chance of us getting a result,' said Jan Stefan Roell, head of the local engineering sector employers' association, Suedwestmetall. He added that employers would not be making a new pay offer to IG Metall.
IG Metall's head in the state, Joerg Hofmann, echoed Roell's comments on the likelihood of a deal, and said the two sides were still a long way from agreeing on a fair wage contract.
Any agreement in Baden-Wuerttemberg, a major centre for the automotive industry, could serve as a pilot for all of Germany.
The union has threatened to unleash all-out strikes in Europe's largest economy from Nov. 17 if no deal is reached.
The negotiating position of IG Metall, which tabled its demand just as the financial crisis intensified in September, has been further weakened by a raft of economic data showing manufacturers in particular are facing tougher times.
The latest month of German manufacturing orders showed them falling at their fastest rate since reunification in 1990. Hundreds of thousands of industrial workers across Germany have staged warning strikes since the start of this month in an effort to press home their demands for better pay.
However, several big German firms have announced cuts to production and extended time-off for workers in the face of waning global demand, and analysts say they are likely to be relatively unconcerned by the prospect of strike-led stoppages.
Underlining the bleak outlook, the government's panel of economic advisers -- known as the 'five wise men' -- will on Wednesday forecast the German economy will see no growth in 2009, an official familiar with the report told Reuters.
(Reporting by Franz-Norbert Piontek; writing by Erik Kirschbaum;) Keywords: GERMANY WAGES/ (Reuters messaging: erik.kirschbaum.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
SINDELFINGEN, Germany, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Wage negotiations between Germany's engineering sector employers and the IG Metall union were stalled late on Tuesday after six hours of talks as the threat of all-out strikes loomed for next week.
'We're in a difficult corner,' a spokesman for the employers association told journalists covering the final scheduled round of talks that are expected to last deep into the night.
But neither the employers' spokesman nor an official from the union, Germany's largest, wanted to reveal any details about where the talks were stuck. The two sides adjourned earlier in the evening for separate consultations before resuming talks.
It was not immediately clear whether it was the usual tough posturing for their respective memberships or whether the talks were genuinely on the brink of failing.
When the latest round of talks in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg got underway earlier, representatives from employers and union IG Metall said they both saw less than a 50 percent chance of a deal being reached for the industry.
IG Metall is pushing for a raise of 8.0 percent for the sector's 3.6 million workers, its highest demand in 16 years. Employers in the sector have made an offer equivalent to a pay hike of 2.9 percent, which IG Metall has rejected as 'a joke.'
'I think there's less than a 50 percent chance of us getting a result,' said Jan Stefan Roell, head of the local engineering sector employers' association, Suedwestmetall. He added that employers would not be making a new pay offer to IG Metall.
IG Metall's head in the state, Joerg Hofmann, echoed Roell's comments on the likelihood of a deal, and said the two sides were still a long way from agreeing on a fair wage contract.
Any agreement in Baden-Wuerttemberg, a major centre for the automotive industry, could serve as a pilot for all of Germany.
The union has threatened to unleash all-out strikes in Europe's largest economy from Nov. 17 if no deal is reached.
The negotiating position of IG Metall, which tabled its demand just as the financial crisis intensified in September, has been further weakened by a raft of economic data showing manufacturers in particular are facing tougher times.
The latest month of German manufacturing orders showed them falling at their fastest rate since reunification in 1990. Hundreds of thousands of industrial workers across Germany have staged warning strikes since the start of this month in an effort to press home their demands for better pay.
However, several big German firms have announced cuts to production and extended time-off for workers in the face of waning global demand, and analysts say they are likely to be relatively unconcerned by the prospect of strike-led stoppages.
Underlining the bleak outlook, the government's panel of economic advisers -- known as the 'five wise men' -- will on Wednesday forecast the German economy will see no growth in 2009, an official familiar with the report told Reuters.
(Reporting by Franz-Norbert Piontek; writing by Erik Kirschbaum;) Keywords: GERMANY WAGES/ (Reuters messaging: erik.kirschbaum.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.