The 11-day postal strike in Germany is currently impacting about 20% of Deutsche Post DHL’s daily mail and parcel volumes and will deepen tomorrow as a second union joins in the indefinite industrial action.
More than 24,000 employees are now taking indefinite strike action across the country, mostly in the 83 letter sorting centres, several of the 33 parcel sorting centres, and in mail and parcel delivery operations.
The Verdi union today again reiterated its demand for the company management to make an offer to resolve the long-running dispute. Union chief Frank Bsirske told a demonstration of some 4,500 striking workers at Deutsche Post’s head office in Bonn: “The confrontation course of the management board is impacting on the company.”
Separately, the smaller DPVKOM union announced that its members had voted by more than 92% also to launch an indefinite strike from tomorrow (June 19) onwards. Chairman Volker Geyer said: “Our members at Deutsche Post no longer want to accept the refusal of the employer during the current pay round… The responsibility for this escalation of the pay dispute lies solely with the employer.”
Similarly to Verdi’s demands, DPVKOM is demanding a 5.5% pay rise and a reduction in weekly working hours from 38.5 to 38 along with the re-integration of the DHL Delivery GmbH workers into the group’s collective pay agreement.
A Deutsche Post spokeswoman told CEP-Research: “The volume of deliveries that cannot be delivered as punctually as usual on strike days but first on the following days varies significantly from region to region due to the different strike participation levels. At present, Deutsche Post is ensuring that about 80% of the letters and parcels can be delivered on time across the country thanks to extensive compensation measures.”
The company also underlined that customers are being directly informed which delivery districts are subject to strike action and said a hotline has been set up for customer queries. In addition, customers with urgent deliveries can use DHL Express or send letters digitally via the E-Post service.
CEP-Research already reported last week that Deutsche Post is using temporary staff, including workers provided by large customers, to help sort volumes, but some parcel customers are starting to seek delivery alternatives due to the volume of delayed shipments.
