Image: APA/AFP/Schlueter
In the collective bargaining for the approximately 17,400 remaining employees of the insolvent department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, difficult further talks are emerging. A first round of negotiations was unsuccessful, things will continue next Wednesday, February 22nd.
The company recently announced after the first round of negotiations that the demands of the Verdi union had been acknowledged. According to the first assessment, they cannot be reconciled with the submitted insolvency plan.
The company, which belongs to the Signa Group owned by entrepreneur and investor Rene Benko, is due for renovations and major investments. They say it will be profitable again in three years at the earliest. Verdi negotiator Marcel Schäuble criticized: “During the negotiations, the Federal Tariff Commission experienced a management that has no other answer for the future of the department stores than savings among employees.” According to Schäuble, wage cuts have never saved jobs.
How many branches are closing?
The employees would have already waived their salary after the first bankruptcy in 2020. According to Verdi, Galeria only wants to continue to pay the reduced salaries.
It is unclear how many of the 129 branches will continue. According to media reports, up to 81 locations are to be closed or sold to interested parties such as the textile chain Aachener.
Source: Nachrichten
