German public unions discuss strike strategy

Leaders of the main public service unions in Germany are meeting in Stuttgart to develop a strategy for their first major national strike since 1992.

The meeting follows a decisive vote by four key unions representing teachers, transport workers, rubbish collectors and traffic wardens to strike in support of their wage demands, despite a warning from the Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder that a strike could imperil the prospects for economic growth.

The unions are demanding wage increases of five percent and a boost to wages in eastern Germany to bring them up to wage levels in western Germany.

They have threatened to begin their strike as early as Tuesday next week. During the last public workers' strike eight years ago, rubbish piled up in the streets and public transport and airline traffic were disrupted for eleven days.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service