Postal workers in Germany will continue to take strike action in the next few days ahead of a fifth round of talks between Deutsche Post and services union Verdi on Wednesday and Thursday (May 20-21) in the ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.
Verdi said today that mail and parcel delivery workers will again stop work today along with some sorting workers and customer service staff, with up to 5,000 employees expected to participate in the industrial action.
Up to 7,000 delivery workers were called out in stoppages across the country on Saturday (May 16) and last Friday (May 15). There were also strikes in Deutsche Post’s 83 mail sorting centres on May 13.
Verdi’s deputy chairwoman Andrea Kocsis, who is in charge of negotiations, said: “The workers really mean it. They expect the employer to finally make a serious offer.”
The union wants a reduction in weekly working hours from 38.5 to 36 hours without any equivalent reduction in payment for some 130,000 mail and parcel staff covered by the nationwide collective agreement, and has also demanded a 5.5% pay rise. Verdi wants a shorter working week to compensate for what it describes as Deutsche Post’s ‘breach of contract’ by creating 49 new regional parcel delivery companies with lower-paid full-time staff.
But Deutsche Post rejected these demands in the fourth round of talks on May 8-9, claiming they would combine into an effective pay rise of 12.5%, and would impact on the firm’s competitiveness. Instead, it is offering extended protection against dismissal and longer paid working breaks.
