International mail and parcel flows to and from Germany have been hit in the latest warning strikes in a pay and working conditions dispute between Deutsche Post and services union Verdi.
The International Mail Center at Frankfurt Airport, which handles a large proportion of the outbound and inbound mail and parcels flown by air from and to Germany, was impacted by strike action in the night of April 29/30, Verdi said. A further 5,000 employees in postal sorting and delivery at various German locations also stopped work early this morning.
The warning strikes are the latest in a series of stoppages in recent weeks organised by the union to put pressure on Deutsche Post as part of ongoing negotiations over pay and working conditions. Thousands of staff have participated in the stoppages, although the company claims that the bulk of its shipments have not been affected.
Andrea Kocsis, Verdi deputy chairwoman and head of its postal and logistics section, said: “We expect Deutsche Post to respond to our demands. We will step up (our actions) if we have to.”
Verdi is demanding a weekly working time reduction from 38.5 hours to 36 hours at unchanged wage levels for 140,000 Deutsche Post mail and parcel employees in an escalation of the dispute over lower-paid parcel delivery workers. According to the union, this would compensate for what it describes as a “breach of contract” over the company’s plans to create regional parcel delivery companies using lower-paid full-time delivery workers.
The two sides have failed to reach any agreement in three rounds of negotiations. The next talks are due on May 8/9 in Berlin.
