THE German Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, under pressure to take decisive action to combat Germany's record unemployment levels, yesterday urged workers to accept a pay freeze for the next few years. Dr Kohl told the mass circulation Bild newspaper that Germans should be willing to forgo wage increases as a gesture of solidarity for the 4.66 million citizens who are on the dole.
Official figures showed last week that unemployment had soared in Germany to a post second World War record of 12.2 per cent of the workforce. The number of people officially looking for work rose by more than half a million in a month to 4,658,300 in January, the federal labour office said.
Last week government, unions and employers reaffirmed a joint target agreed on January 23rd last year to work to halve unemployment by 2000.
"I find it absolutely reasonable that everyone who has a job should for a few years curb their demands or even do without a real increase in wages completely so that the employment chances for those who are unemployed will improve," Dr Kohl said.
Union leaders reacted angrily to the proposal, claiming that tax hikes and increased social security contributions have ensured that most workers have experienced no increase in income in recent years.
The chancellor denied his, government was faced with a choice between boosting jobs and qualifying for European Monetary Union (EMU), claiming that adopting the euro would boost employment.
"Monetary union and the euro will give the European economy a powerful boost. This will also provide new jobs," he said.
Dr Kohl's remarks came as allies within his centre right coalition increased pressure on him to make a public announcement clarifying his future political intentions.
Dr Kohl's supporters within the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) believe that a clear declaration that he will stand next year would help to unite the fractious party and restore discipline.
Speculation about likely successors to Dr Kohl, long a taboo subject within the CDU, has been rife since the party's parliamentary leader, Dr Wolfgang Schauble confirmed last month that he harboured ambitions to be chancellor.
Dr Kohl took the unusual step yesterday of speaking publicly about his health, a subject he has hitherto insisted should remain a private matter. Condemning as underhand a report in the news magazine Der Spiegel that he was suffering from prostate cancer, the Chancellor insisted he was in perfect health.
The Chancellor described as "pure invention" the assertions of what he described only as "a Hamburg news magazine", declining even to name Der Spiegel, for which he has always shown contempt.
"I have in my political life already experienced a lot of under handedness, but this was particularly shabby," Dr Kohl said.
The Chancellor said the purpose of "these people" was "to make others feel insecure the members and supporters of the Christian Democratic Union, the German population as a whole and our friends and partners abroad".
He said, "Fortunately, I have only had to undergo two real operations in my life. Since then, I have the appropriate tests every year, with very pleasing results."
Der Spiegel claimed that Dr Kohl (66) had cancelled numerous engagements in recent months because of ill health and that he had been secretly treated in hospital for prostate cancer on three occasions since 1992.
The magazine quoted senior Christian Democrats who claim that the Chancellor decided in 1994 that his present term in office should be his last because of anxiety over his health.
