German Workers Demand 6.5% Raise as Siemens Sees Recession
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Two years of minimal wage increases have left Christoph Schoenau, a metallographer for auto and aircraft component maker GKN Plc at a factory near Frankfurt, feeling left out of Germany’s economic rebound.
Schoenau, 39, is one of 3.6 million workers in the metal and electrical industries clamoring for as much as 6.5 percent more in their paychecks when unions lock horns with employers next month. That’s after Germany’s economy, the largest in Europe, registered 3 percent annual growth last year and 3.7 percent the year before, the most since German reunification.