BERLIN (AP) — Several hundred steel workers in eastern Germany walked off their jobs for two hours on Tuesday as part of an industry-wide rash of warning strikes aimed at winning pay hikes.
The temporary strikes, organized by the IG Metall industrial labor union, involved some 1,900 workers from steel plants in the eastern German states of Brandenburg and Saxony and come two days ahead of the next round of talks with managers.
IG Metall is seeking an 8 percent raise for its members, citing what it called ''fat'' profits among steel makers. Employers have said such an increase would be too high.
Any wage hikes could, economists argue, augment inflation in the euro zone, which hit 3.2 last month, worrying the European Central Bank.
Last week, several thousand steel workers walked off their jobs in western Germany's industrial heartland of the Ruhr region in a series of brief stoppages.
''It is time that employers make a viable offer,'' said Olivier Hoebel, the IG Metall leader for Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony states.
The next round of talks is to take place on Thursday.
