May 22, 2002 2 min read

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – Members of Germany’s biggest industrial union started voting Tuesday in a key manufacturing region on whether to accept a wage agreement reached last week to end 10 days of strikes at manufacturing plants. At least 25 percent of IG Metall members in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg must approve the agreement in order for it to be accepted, formally bringing an end to a pay dispute that saw the union stage its first walkouts in seven years. Automaking giants DaimlerChrysler and Porsche were among the companies hit.

Last week, union and employer representatives agreed to a 4 percent raise for 12 months starting in June, then 3.1 percent for another six months. The deal covered only the 800,000 employees in Baden-Wuerttemberg, but was expected to set the pattern for settlements across the country.

Results of the vote are expected late Wednesday

In Berlin and the surrounding eastern state of Brandenburg, the only other region where IG Metall staged strikes, the two sides agreed on Saturday to apply the deal cut in Baden-Wuerttemberg. Members are to begin voting on the issue Wednesday.

Some German business leaders have said the deal will worsen the country’s unemployment at a time when the country is edging out of a mild recession. IG Metall, which started with a demand for a 6.5 percent raise, argued that inflation ran ahead of moderate wage increases over the past two years.

and unemployment rose despite their restraint.

IG Metall, with 2.7 million members across Germany, covers the bulk of factory workers in businesses such as automaking, consumer and industrial electronics, and machine-building.