Deutsche Post and the Verdi union finally reached a pay agreement on 2 December covering 1,000staff at two DHL operating subsidiaries in Germany.
Under the two-year deal, the employees of the DHL Vertriebs GmbH and DHL Verwaltungs GmbH,the two operational units of DHL Parcel Germany, will receive a single payment of €200 in December.From March 2009 onwards, their salaries will increase by 3.8% and rise by further 2.6% with effectfrom April 2010. The standard working time per week remains 38.5 hours. In return, the employeesworking on Christmas Eve and on New Year’s Eve will not receive any free time compensation forthese days. The labour agreement runs until 30 November 2010.
The deputy chairwoman of the Verdi Union, Andrea Kocsis, commented on the agreement: “Withthis tariff result, we were able to avert an increase in the weekly working hours. At the sametime, salaries will rise by a total of 6.4% by April 2010. So we have put through our key demands.”
The new deal follows successful warning strikes held by more than 250 DHL employees at thetwo subsidiaries on November 18 ahead of pay talks on November 20. The Verdi union was seeking an8% pay rise for 1,000 DHL employees in a 12-month agreement.
Deutsche Post had blocked the wage negotiations for months and been seeking to increaseweekly working hours from 38.5 hours to 40 hours. But Verdi categorically opposed to the increase.The new deal is yet to be approved by the union’s tariff commission.
