1.   Such compromise wage settlements protect senior employee wages while allowing these companies to hire new employees at substantially less.

2.   Unemployment and inflation were below the average of other OECD countries but the report warned that recent wage settlements were higher than previous ones and that inflation could revive.

3.   Economic prosperity allowed government to maintain peace with the labor unions by allowing high wage settlements.

4.   As a result, the bank said it will monitor closely the next round of wage settlements.

5.   Companies are required to give wage settlements to long-term employees.

6.   Economists have warned that a generous wage settlement will slow down German economic growth, which is already the lowest in Europe.

7.   Recent wage settlements and the weak economy also pose no inflationary dangers, he said.

8.   The damage would come at a time when German companies are already struggling to absorb the recent round of high wage settlements for German workers.

9.   The strike began in August after the union rejected a wage settlement from the Norwegian Shipowners Association.