Dusseldorf (Reuters) – The Germans have to adjust to empty mailboxes. The trade union Verdi on Saturday broke off negotiations on shorter working hours with Deutsche Post and announced a strike.
“All signs point to storm,” said Verdi chief negotiator, Andrea Kocsis in Berlin. In the coming week there will be “nationwide strike action”. The strikes could take several days. “The actions of the union is very difficult to understand,” said a post spokesman. The Group had offered, among other things extended job security until 2018, Verdi reacting it with a call for industrial action.
The climate between Post and Verdi is poisoned for months. The Bonn-based company had announced that it would create thousands of new jobs – but this happens in 49 new companies benefiting from lower wages than in the group. Verdi sees this as a breach of existing contracts and on the other hand runs storm. Kocsis had responded to the demand for shorter working hours and this underlined with warning strikes. The 140,000 public employees of the Group are to their will in future 36 work instead of 38.5 hours a week – without loss of pay. Verdi had then demanded still 5.5 percent higher wages on Friday.
The Verdi package go “to reality over,” Post-Human Resources Manager Melanie circle had said on the margins of the fourth round of talks with Verdi in Berlin. The mailing threatened additional costs of 600 million euros, if they fulfill the wishlist of Verdi. In the discussion circle had, according to the Post offered by three years to extend the end of the year expiring dismissal protection at the post until the end of 2018. At the same time she placed a package of measures on the table, which amounts to a “significant reduction” of the working time by approximately one hour per week without a wage cut. “With this offer we are going in the face of our existing competitive disadvantage in labor costs at the limits of possibility,” said Kreis.
Verdi blared from the offer. The Post was not prepared to reduce the working week without loss of pay to 36 hours, underlined Kocsis. With their trade show Post exacerbating the labor dispute. “The workers will not accept,” she announced.
The Post had repeatedly complained, their wage costs would in Germany significantly higher than those of competitors such as UPS, TNT or DPD. This needs to change. Verdi had negotiated during the previous wage round in the mail a collective agreement, the wage increases in two steps envisaged by 3.1 and 2.6 percent. This runs from the end of May – for their wage demand can not go on strike, the union
.
© Thomson Reuters 2015 All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment