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.

德国工人在争取更好的工作与生活平衡方面取得一项关键胜利，一个大型雇主组织同意了该国最大工会提出的关于允许28小时工作周的要求。

The agreement between IG Metall, which represents a swath of industrial workers, and the Südwestmetall employers’ federation¹, shows how unions in Germany that for years have been models of wage restraint are flexing² their muscles in ways more typical of organised labour in France, home of the 35-hour working week.

代表多个产业工人的德国金属业工会(IG Metall)与西南金属电气雇主协会(Südwestmetall)达成的协议，显示了多年来在工资要求上一直是克制典范的德国工会，正以更像法国工会组织的方式展示自己的力量。法国实行35小时工作周。

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 coalition³ negotiations⁴ that have raised questions over whether a country that once lectured Europe on economic and political stability is losing its way.

这份劳资协议达成之际，德国正处于战后最漫长的无政府时期。安格拉?默克尔(Angela Merkel)正艰难推进已进入第五个月的执政联盟谈判，由此引发的问题是：曾经在经济和政治稳定上给欧洲其他国家上课的德国，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.

这份劳资协议是当前繁荣的产物，此轮繁荣使工会在集体谈判中掌握异乎寻常的好牌。去年德国经济增速是自2011年以来最快的，而失业率处于自1990年统一以来的最低点。

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

西南金属电气雇主协会的首席谈判代表斯特凡?沃尔夫(Stefan Wolf)警告说，该劳资协议是一个“负担，将让很多公司难以承受”。