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FACTBOX-German metalworker wage rounds 1990-2003

BERLIN, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Wage talks between Germany's largest industrial union, IG Metall, and employers adjourned this week and the union is now planning a wave of warning strikes to pressure employers before the next negotiations.

The engineering and metalworkers trade union is demanding a four percent pay rise for 2004 for 3.5 million engineering workers at car giants like DaimlerChrysler and BMW as well as at a host of smaller engineering firms.

Employers have offered IG Metall two 1.2 percent pay rises over 27 months and asked unions to make contracts with employers more flexible so firms can vary working hours to match demand.

Usually both sides agree a deal, typically after a series of stoppages and through-the-night talks, that is around half way between the unions demand and the employers' offer.

Wage rounds typically last into spring.

The following is a list of the agreements reached during sector wide wage bargaining since 1990.

2002-2003

This round saw the sector's first major strike in seven years, casting a shadow over a nascent economic upturn in Germany.

IG Metall entered the talks in December 2001 with a 6.5 percent claim for 12 months after the previous two-year deal was eroded by higher-than-expected inflation.

After a 10-day strike in May 2002, it got a four percent rise from June 2002 and 3.1 percent from June 2003. Workers also got a one-off payment of 120 euros.

That deal ran out at the end of 2003.

2000-2001

IG Metall entered this wage round with a claim for a 5.5 percent rise. After a series of warning strikes and protracted talks it got a rise of around three percent and one off payments. The 24-month deal was praised as moderate because it was in line with productivity gains. Under the deal workers got a three percent pay rise from May 1, 2000 and 2.1 percent from May 1, 2001 and received a monthly payment for March and April. The deal also gave employees the right to opt for part-time work from the age of 57 provided they give four months' notice.

1999

IG Metall called for "an end to restraint" as years of moderate wage increases had done little to relieve unemployment. It demanded a 6.5 percent increase, employers offered a 2.3 percent rise plus a one-off, profit-related 0.5 percent payment.

Workers staged warning strikes to press home their demands. The 12-month wage deal allowed for a 3.2 percent pay rise from March 1, 1999; a 350 mark payment for the months of January and February, and a one-off payment of one percent of an annual salary, averting a strike ballot.

1997/1998

IG Metall offered a moderate wage claim in line with inflation if employers created 330,000 new jobs over three years. Another thorny issue was sick pay, which the government was trying to cut from 100 percent of salary to 80 percent. The two-year wage deal kept all sick pay intact, with lower Christmas bonuses. Workers received 1.5 percent wage increase for 1997 and a 2.5 percent increase in 1998.

1995/1996

In February 1995, IG Metall launched strikes in Bavaria to support their six percent wage claim, the first strike action in the west German engineering sector since 1984. The employers' problem was cutting the working week to 35 hours. They said this would increase wage costs by 2.8 percent. The deal eventually struck was for two years giving a wage increase of four percent, with the working week cut to 35 hours.

1994

With unemployment at record four million, IG Metall went into 1994's pay round seeking a six percent increase, but made it clear from the outset it would accept a lower pay deal if job guarantees were offered.

A pay deal of two percent ran to the end of 1994. Employers had sought a pay freeze and had set out with an objective of cutting costs by 10 percent. IG Metall staged token walk-outs at factories during the negotiations.

1993

This year's pay round was particularly bitter, with IG Metall taking legal action over employers refusal to pay a 26 percent pay rise in the eastern German states from April 1.

The union demanded a 7.5 percent rise, but softened demands amid a general slowdown and job losses in the steel sector. In December 1992 IG Metall agreed a 3.3 percent pay rise which ran for 18 months from November 1992.

1992

IG Metall sought a 9.5 percent wage rise, but employers countered with a 3.3 percent offer as they said their profits were being squeezed by the world recession. A package was agreed which raised wages by 5.4 percent, again bringing Germany back from the brink of strike action.

1991

IG Metall demanded a 10 percent pay rise, based on a four percent inflation rise and a rise in productivity of 2.5 pct. The union staged work stoppages to back their claim.

Employers were offering four percent. A compromise was reached at 6.7 percent, which worked out at seven percent once bonuses for lower paid workers were factored in.

1990

IG Metall, then West Germany's biggest union, said it was looking for a pay rise of 10 percent and a 35-hour week, but was prepared to give up the goal of a shorter week if it clinched a big pay rise.

It won a six percent pay rise and a cut in the week to 35 hours from 37 hours to be implemented in 1995.