GERMAN METALWORKERS WIN LIMITED

German metalworkers win limited 28-hour week concession.

Almost one million employees with Germany's powerful metalworking union IG Metal won higher pay and the right to a reduced working week in an agreement with employers late Monday-

Potentially staving off the threat of fresh strikes  after almost a week of walkouts.

Both the Union and Employers said in an overnight statements they had reached a ''tolerable compromise'' with some ''painful elements'' covering 900,000  workers in key industrial state-

Baden-Wuerttenberg, which could be extended to the 3.9 million workers in the sector across the country.

The key concession is the  right for more senior employees to cut their working week to 28 hours for a limited period of six to 24 months.

The union had pushed for a staff to have a right to more flexible working conditions around - key life moments such as the birth of a child, looking after a relative or ill health-

With the right to return to fulltime hours afterwards.

[Agencies]