German public sector unions prepare walkouts over pay

German public sector workers unions are preparing to take industrial action including walkouts next week after making no progress in a second round of wage talks with the government, they said on Sunday.The Verdi and dbb unions want a 4.8% pay rise for 2.3 million public sector workers in federal government and municipalities in Europe's biggest economy."Employers have blocked themselves into a corner ... so warning strikes are inevitable," said Verdi chairman Frank Werneke.