Mediators Lothar Spaeth (R) and Herbert Schmalstieg attend a news conference after talks with German public sector workers union Verdi in Friedrichshafen March 27, 2008. Mediators recommended on Thursday that German public sector workers should receive a 4 percent pay rise from April this year and a further 2 percent hike from January 2009, but unions rejected the proposal. REUTERS/Miro Kuzmanovic (GERMANY)