German public-sector workers walk out to press pay demands

BERLIN (AP) — Public-service workers in Germany have launched a campaign of short strikes to press their demand for a significant pay rise, with hospital and child care center employees and drainage workers among those set to walk off the job in parts of the country. The ver.di union’s main demand is a 4.8% raise, or a minimum of 150 euros ($177) per month, for some 2.3 million federal and local employees over the next year. Warning strikes are a common tactic in German labor negotia