After intense mediation and saber-rattling, Germany’s big construction union IG BAU and management reached a deal Oct. 15 after midnight that—pending final approval by some 890,000 members and employers—averting a potent strike threat, its first in almost 20 years, and pushing efforts to balance wage disparities between the country’s east and west regions.
IG Bau leader Robert Feiger invoked “the sword of Damocles” after the first round of mediation failed to reach agreement, with industry organizations countering that the union was misrepresenting management proposals.