EU warning strike

Some 2,500 EU civil servants took part in the three hour warning strike on Monday. They are outraged that 15 of the bloc's 27 member states want them to make do without a 3.7 percent pay rise they say they are owed.

The raise was proposed by the European Commission last month but now many states - including Germany - which have been hit by the global economic down-turn, say increasing wages is unnecessary in times of financial crisis.

Diplomats described it as a "bizarre political signal".

Central and eastern European members, whose own civil servants have suffered brutal pay cuts as a result of the economic crisis, are particularly opposed to padding out Brussels' workers pay packets.

Massimo Maru, union leader in the council of EU member states, agrees that it might not be "a very suitable moment" for the pre-discussed rise, but he told reporters "that is the way (salaries) are done".

Since 2004, EU employees have had their wages calculated on the basis of what civil servants in eight of the Union's oldest and wealthiest member states earned the year before.

The system was deliberately restricted to a small number of countries in order to ensure that Brussels did not suddenly find itself having to match disproportionately high wage increases in rapid-growth economies.

Although it need not have worried on that score, the EU has not convinced everyone with its system. Civil servants say it's a problem that calculations are made on the basis of year-old salaries because by the time they get to Brussels they are not representative of the economic climate of the moment.

"Last year we only got 0.6 percent and in 2010 we expect only a very meager rise, or even a pay cut," Maru said.

Eurocrats have threatened to block ministerial meetings later this week if the dispute is not resolved. Talks between member states were set to continue on Monday.

tkw/AP/dpa
Editor: Chuck Penfold