German public sector wage deal reached

German states and union negotiators have reached a wage deal that ends the country's biggest public sector strike in more than a decade, officials from both camps said on Friday.
"If Verdi says it then that's the case," said Hartmut Moellring, head negotiator for 14 German states, when asked to confirm comments from an official at union Verdi, who said earlier an agreement had been reached.
Walk-outs began in February after state and local employers tried to raise weekly working hours to 40 from 38.5 without additional pay and pushed for cuts in holidays and Christmas bonuses.
According to negotiators, the compromise deal would allow the length of the workweek for some 780,000 public sector employees to vary in between 38.5 and 40 hours depending on their income and which state they live in.