The Christmas truce has not been reached and negotiations on the collective labor agreement for retailers are now continuing. Trade union and employer are no longer far apart. The weak Christmas activities are causing additional disillusionment in parts of the sector.
On Wednesday, negotiations on the 2024 collective labor agreement for approximately 430,000 commercial employees will enter their seventh round. Previously, the union increased pressure and carried out warning strikes.
The employee representatives argue for a staggered salary agreement between 8.48 and 9.38 percent. The employers’ last offer was 8 percent. The 150,000 employees in the retail sector are also still waiting for a KV qualification.
The negotiations have been going on for months
Negotiations on the commercial KV started shortly after the metal companies on October 24. The union’s initial demand was an eleven percent wage increase in retail.
At the end of November, the metal industry ended with an average wage increase of 8.6 percent, while the lowest incomes saw an increase of ten percent.
Weak Christmas activities
Partly weak Christmas activity is putting additional pressure on the sector, reports director of the trade association Rainer Will krone.tv: “We have just conducted a current survey among retailers, shortly before the end of the Christmas activities. Two-thirds of respondents are clearly dissatisfied with the Christmas business; things are going very badly.”
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.
