The collective labor agreement dispute at Deutsche Post is entering the next round. The Verdi union called for strikes on Thursday to increase pressure on employers. 15 percent more wages are demanded for 160,000 workers in the country.
Last week there were already three-day warning strikes, in which some 30,000 workers took part. As a result, sometimes a million parcels and three million letters were lost. Now the German postmen want to go on strike again to increase the pressure and get the management to give in. The warning strikes are initially only planned for one day, but an extension is not ruled out.
money for investment
In concrete terms, the employees demand 15 percent more wages, which the company considers too much. Deutsche Post points out, among other things, that it needs money for investments that secure current jobs in the long term. If personnel costs rise too much, this can delay investments and cloud the future. In addition, there are higher costs for energy, for example. The company is therefore unable to compensate for the real wage loss of the employees. That’s what the employers said in the second round of collective bargaining, according to a trade unionist.
Record profit expected?
The Verdi trade union does not accept these arguments. She counters the performance of the workforce in times of pandemic, high inflation and a possible record profit for 2022. Fewer parcels were sent last year, but more direct mail. “The company owes this success to the work of its employees,” said Andrea Kocsis, Verdi’s vice president. It is a “provocation to which the workers give an unequivocal response with their strikes”.
A spokesman for Deutsche Post, on the other hand, reacted with incomprehension to the renewed work stoppages. The employers have already announced that they will make an offer at the start of the third round of negotiations on 8 February. That is why the warning strikes are “unnecessary, because in the end they will only be at the expense of our customers”.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
