In the collective bargaining dispute at Deutsche Post, it is still unclear whether an indefinite strike is imminent. The negotiations, which began on Friday afternoon, are still ongoing on Saturday afternoon.
In the collective bargaining dispute at Deutsche Post, the negotiations that began on Friday afternoon are ongoing. This was announced by spokesmen for the Verdi union and the company on Saturday afternoon. It was initially not known whether negotiations were carried out during the night. Neither the post office nor the union provided any information about the status of the negotiations and the future schedule. Negotiations are taking place in Düsseldorf at an undisclosed location. The fourth round started there on Friday at around 2:00 p.m.
In a ballot, 85.9 percent of the union members had spoken out against a collective bargaining offer from the company and in favor of an indefinite strike. Nevertheless, after the voting result was announced on Thursday, Verdi had declared its willingness to negotiate at short notice.
15 percent more required
Verdi went into the bargaining round with a demand for 15 percent more money for the 160,000 employees with a one-year term. In the course of the negotiations, Swiss Post had offered a tariff increase of an average of 11.5 percent from 2024 in two steps plus a bonus totaling EUR 3,000 net.
Before the fourth round, Verdi asked Swiss Post to improve their offer. If the group doesn’t move and doesn’t “submit a materially significantly improved offer, we’ll go on strike next week,” said Andreas Henze, the state department head of Verdi Baden-Württemberg. He is a member of the union’s bargaining committee.
A company spokesman said before the fourth round that the Post saw the opportunity for an agreement in this round. “In this round, we should try to avoid strikes that would harm customers and employees. We hope for a workable compromise.”
The last time there was an indefinite strike at the logistics company was in 2015. At that time, masses of parcels and letters had been left behind. In the current wage dispute, Verdi had already called for temporary warning strikes in January and February after the previous wage agreement expired at the end of the year.
Source: Stern
