Nearly four million German workers in the key electrical and metalworking sectors will receive pay increases after the country’s biggest trade union struck a deal Tuesday with employers.

The agreement hammered out by the IG Metall union averts fresh strikes at a time when Europe’s top economy is struggling and is headed for early elections next year after the collapse of the coalition government.

The workers will get a rise totalling 5.5 percent over two years, according to the deal struck after 18 hours of talks, the union said in a statement.

“We have succeeded in achieving a solid result for employees despite difficult conditions,” said IG Metall boss Christiane Benner.

This will come in two stages, with a two percent increase from April next year followed by another increase from April 2026, as well as a one-off bonus of 600 euros ($638).

As is customary with such agreements in Germany, a “pilot” deal was struck in two regions, Kueste and Bavaria, which will serve as a template for the rest of the country.

Lena Stroeble, a negotiator representing employers, said that the talks had been a “tough struggle to the end” and that the pay hikes, while relatively high, were still justifiable despite the “difficult times”.

The union had originally been pushing for a seven percent rise over 12 months, arguing that its members still faced higher living costs despite inflation having come down from recent highs.

Workers staged a brief walkout last month to protest an earlier offer from employers’ associations.

Tuesday’s agreement does not impact ongoing talks between the union and auto giant Volkswagen, which has its own arrangements for labour negotiations.

Battling a deep crisis, Volkswagen is eyeing an unprecedented cost-cutting drive and has warned it could close factories in Germany for the first time in its history.