Unions and management at car maker Skoda Auto today reached agreement on a wage growth of 12.7 percent on average at the company as of the second quarter of this year and until end-2008, board member Martin Jahn told a news conference today.

Next year, employees will be paid a one-off supplement of Kc2,500 and contributions to their private pension insurance schemes will be raised, said Jahn.

The strike will not continue on Thursday.

For last year, employees will receive a one-off supplement of Kc10,000 which, in the future, will be either reduced or increased, depending on the development of the company's performance.

Staff at all three shifts staged a strike on Tuesday. Production was resumed this morning and wage negotiations with the management continued.

Skoda managers' previous offer was for a wage growth of 7.5 percent for this year and of 3 percent in 2008. They had before offered a 13-percent wage growth for this year but withdrew the proposal last Friday after the unions had turned it down.

Unions then called a strike and managers withdrew their latest offer.

Skoda Auto employs about 27,000 people. Workers earn Kc22,000 a month on average, against the national average of Kc20,211 for 2006.