Germany's metal and electrical industry faces industrial action after leaders of the powerful IG Metall union decided yesterday to ballot members in two regions.
Mr Klaus Zwickel, the union's president, announced yesterday that it would ballot more than 200,000 members in the regions Berlin-Brandenburg and Baden-Wⁿrttemberg from Thursday.
A clear majority, more than 75 per cent of members, must favour strike action before it can go ahead.
Union leaders will meet again on May 2nd and, if they receive a mandate, a nationwide strike of 3.6 million workers in the sector could begin as early as May 6th.
The decision came after Gesamtmetall, the metal industry employers' organisation, made a last-minute offer of fresh negotiations yesterday.
A nationwide strike could dampen the "cautious optimism" that six leading economists expressed yesterday about recovery prospects in Germany.
In their spring forecast, they predicted German gross domestic product would rise by 0.9 per cent this year and 2.4 per cent in 2003, while average unemployment this year would be 3.92 million. They urged a spending cut to bring the budget "close" to balanced by 2004, as promised to euro-zone finance ministers earlier this year.
