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BERLIN, June 26 (Reuters) - Germany's IG Metall engineering union said on Thursday exploratory talks aimed at stopping a strike in eastern Germany ended with the two sides still far apart. IG Metall engineering union chief Klaus Zwickel and Martin Kannegiesser, head of employers' federation Gesamtmetall, had met to hammer out the basis of a deal ahead of talks on Friday.
After the talks ended, IG Metall said it still planned to resume formal negotiations with employers on Friday and the negotiators would explore all possibilities to resolve the conflict at the negotiating table.
Engineering workers in the former communist east have been on strike for over three weeks, demanding a reduction in the working week by three hours to the 35 hours which is standard for their western colleagues.
The strike has idled western plants at luxury carmaker BMW AG this week because gearboxes made at an eastern plant were not being delivered, sparking warnings that feeble growth in the entire German economy was being put at risk.
IG Metall says recent improvements in productivity in the east warrant equal working hours.
But economists warn that the region, where the rate of unemployment at about 19 percent is more than double than the eight percent in the west, needs a lasting competitive edge to catch up with the west.
And shorter working hours now would drive investors to neighbouring Poland or the Czech Republic, economists say.
The strike is dividing east Germany itself, with a recent survey showing 52 percent of east Germans are against the strike, while 39 percent support it.