BERLIN, May 30 (Reuters) - Engineering workers in the eastern state of Saxony joined colleagues in the steel industry in voting for a strike to demand a cut in working hours to match standards in west Germany, the IG Metall union said on Friday.
The ballot of 16,000 Saxon metal and engineering workers at 85 firms including Volkswagen AG came as unions step up pressure on Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to water down his controversial package of reform plans dubbed Agenda 2010.
IG Metall called the strike ballots in eastern Germany to demand a gradual reduction in weekly working hours to 35 from the current 38 to bring the region into line with western Germany, where workers already have a 35-hour week.
Workers in the east German steel industry voted last week to go on strike over the same issue and are expected to start the first stoppages on Monday, IG Metall said.