The German postal regulator “Bundesnetzagentur” is demanding that licensed private mail firmsreveal details of wage levels and working conditions in an escalating dispute over alleged “
wage-dumping” in the sector.The Bundesnetzagentur initially issued a questionnaire in June to 1,500 licensed mailoperators asking them to disclose details of pay levels, working conditions, organisationalstructure and postal volumes. This followed claims by Deutsche Post that competitors were abusingtheir licence conditions by paying excessively low wages.
In response, 46 companies, including PIN Group, took legal action against the regulator’squestionnaire. The Cologne administrative court ruled earlier this week that companies wereentitled to withhold information about mail volumes and their operating structure.
Bundesnetzagentur president Matthias Kurth told the Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung that theauthority would now revise the questionnaire to include voluntary information but he stressed thatcompanies were obliged to answer the questions about pay levels and working conditions.
PIN Group responded to the court decision by saying that it would resist attempts bypoliticians and unions to “instrumentalise” the postal regulator, and commented that it had alreadyprovided relevant information earlier this year for a study commissioned by theBundesnetzagentur.
Earlier this month, Deutsche Post chairman Klaus Zuminkel called for a sector-wide minimumpay agreement to ensure that private firms did not substantially undercut Deutsche Post pay rates.
