More work, less pay: the new Karstadt owner Benko wants to make further cuts in the workforce. Verdi defends itself against the plans. An agreement is in sight.
The new Karstadt leadership wants to impose further savings on the ailing retail chain by the unions. In collective bargaining on Friday, the employer had declared, pay no tariff increases in the coming years and want to make Christmas and holiday bonuses to the test, said Arno Peukes, chief negotiator for the union Verdi. That was just as unreasonable as the required extension of working hours, said the Verdi functionary. His co-negotiator Rüdiger Wolf told Reuters that management had also announced it would advance his plans for further staff reductions. From Karstadt was to get an opinion. The collective bargaining will be continued on 21 October.
“The plans of the employer previously exhausted almost exclusively in further cost savings,” said Peuker. It lacks a viable concept for the future. Verdi will prevail in the negotiations, which began over a year ago, location and job security for the approximately 17,000 Karstadt employees. In addition, the union is demanding a return of the ailing department store giant to face collective agreement. Which had the department store group turned their backs already under the old owner Nicolas Berggruen -., And thus saves on the wage increases
Berggruen had Karstadt in August for the symbolic price of one euro to the Austrian property investor Rene Benko passed. This silent so far about his plans with Karstadt. In a first board meeting after taking over the Karstadt management had declared the previous strategy had failed and submitted to a thorough renovation concept that focuses on reducing personnel to store closures. About 20 percent of jobs are in the balance thereafter. The Supervisory Board has approved the concept, however, not yet. On October 23, the committee will reconvene.
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