The department store chain Galeria has been paying less than other retailers for a long time. This is no surprise, as Galeria was in a crisis. But that should soon be over. And what does that mean for pay?
At the start of the wage negotiations at the department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof (GKK), the Verdi union emphatically rejected a proposal from the company. “Anyone who wants to rush through a cheap deal is ignoring the strained financial situation of the people and their families at Galeria,” said Verdi board member Silke Zimmer after the talks in Düsseldorf.
The company is wasting the opportunity to move into the future with well-trained and motivated specialists. “The plans of the so-called department store collective agreement presented are not a viable future concept for the department store chain, which is in its third insolvency proceedings, but rather a pure cost-cutting program at the expense of the employees,” complains Zimmer.
Crisis leads to lower pay
Germany’s last large department store group has been in crisis for years, and employees have not been paid according to the retail collective agreement for some time. Verdi hoped that after the restructuring, the company would pay according to the collective agreement and that employees would then receive more money.
But Galeria rejected this hope – the company instead wants to have its own collective agreement that applies only to itself. This is to run for three years, include a pay increase of eight percent, a one-off inflation compensation bonus of 600 euros and an unspecified bonus with which the employees are to share in the success of their respective branch.
The current insolvency proceedings are to be lifted by the end of July. The US investment company NRDC and a holding company owned by the entrepreneur Bernd Beetz are to become the new owners on August 1. By September, the number of branches is to be reduced from the current 92 to 83, which will then have around 12,000 employees.
Collective agreement has higher wages
According to Verdi, Karstadt has not paid according to the collective agreement since 2004, and the company later merged with the department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. According to union information, GKK has not paid according to the collective agreement since 2019. From Verdi’s point of view, however, this was by no means an exit from the collective agreement, but only a temporary decoupling from it.
According to the union, GKK employees currently receive an average of €9,000 less per year than colleagues at other retailers who pay according to a collective agreement. According to Verdi, this difference would be permanently fixed if the current Galeria tariff offer were accepted and implemented. “This is completely unacceptable,” said Verdi negotiator Marcel Schäuble, describing the Galeria proposal as “an affront to the employees who work hard for the future of their company.”
It is still unclear when the union will meet with company representatives again for collective bargaining talks.
Source: Stern
