Germany's 7,500 km of river canal systems will be strike-free this week to give the country's Transport and Interior ministers a chance to rethink and offer to negotiate a wage and security pact for the systems' 12,500-person workforce, a German union Ver.di expert said, Platts reported.
If such an offer isn't forthcoming, 'Ver.di will resume the striking by the beginning of September at the latest, the union's river canal strike expert in Mainz, Paul-Christian Koch said Sunday.
Sources close to Ver.di said a continued refusal to accept the the union's demand at this stage could mean strikes nationwide for an unlimited period of time until the demand was met.
This week's pause came on the heels of various multi-day strikes in most of the country's regional river canal systems last week, ending August 24 with that in the northwestern German state of Northrhine-Westphalia (NRW).
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