德國工會贏得28小時工作周權利

German workers won a key victory in their fight for a better work-life balance when a big employers’ group agreed to demands from the country’s largest trade union for the introduction of a 28-hour working week.

德國工人在爭取更好的工作與生活平衡方面取得一項關鍵勝利，一個大型僱主組織同意了該國最大工會提出的關於允許28小時工作周的要求。

The agreement between IG Metall, which represents a swath of industrial workers, and the Südwestmetall employers’ federation, shows how unions in Germany that for years have been models of wage restraint are flexing their muscles in ways more typical of organised labour in France, home of the 35-hour working week.

代表多個產業工人的德國金屬業工會(IG Metall)與西南金屬電氣僱主協會(Südwestmetall)達成的協議，顯示了多年來在工資要求上一直是剋制典範的德國工會，正以更像法國工會組織的方式展示自己的力量。法國實行35小時工作周。

It also comes as Germany is in the midst of its longest postwar stretch without a government. Angela Merkel is struggling through a fifth month of coalition negotiations that have raised questions over whether a country that once lectured Europe on economic and political stability is losing its way.

這份勞資協議達成之際，德國正處於戰後最漫長的無政府時期。安格拉?默克爾(Angela Merkel)正艱難推進已進入第五個月的執政聯盟談判，由此引發的問題是：曾經在經濟和政治穩定上給歐洲其他國家上課的德國，是否正在迷失方向？

The labour deal is a product of a boom that has given unions an unusually strong hand in collective bargaining. The economy last year grew at its fastest rate since 2011 and unemployment is at its lowest since reunification in 1990.

這份勞資協議是當前繁榮的產物，此輪繁榮使工會在集體談判中掌握異乎尋常的好牌。去年德國經濟增速是自2011年以來最快的，而失業率處於自1990年統一以來的最低點。

Stefan Wolf, Südwestmetall’s chief negotiator , warned the deal was a “burden, which will be hard to bear for many firms”.

西南金屬電氣僱主協會的首席談判代表斯特凡?沃爾夫(Stefan Wolf)警告說，該勞資協議是一個“負擔，將讓很多公司難以承受”。