Postal union Verdi today stepped up pressure on Deutsche Post with warning strikes in several parts of Germany after an unsuccessful round of talks with the postal operator last week over its demands for a 5.5% pay rise for 140,000 postal employees.
Deutsche Post workers held warning strikes at several locations in North Rhine-Westphalia and at the Munich mail sorting centre on Wednesday morning, according to German media.
Verdi explained in a press release that Deutsche Post didn’t made any “negotiable” offer during the round of talks on September 3-4.
“In the second round of negotiations, we got the impression that Deutsche Post want to fob its employees off with a pay increase of only 1.5% for 12 months. This is a provocation and our members, who contribute to the company's success every day, will not just put up with that,” declared Andrea Kocsis, the union’s deputy chairwoman.
“Deutsche Post is among the winners from the corona crisis. Someone who benefits in a crisis to such an extent must also contribute to boosting domestic demand. This definitely includes decent wage increases and no austerity measures for the employees,” she stated.
In the second quarter of this year, Deutsche Post’s Post & Parcel Germany division strongly improved its operating profits by nearly 50%, with the coronavirus pandemic rapidly accelerating the long-term trend of rising parcel volumes, DP DHL explained in August when it published its Q2 financial results.
Ahead of the upcoming round of negotiations on September 21-22, Verdi is demanding a linear pay rise of 5.5% over a period of twelve months, and a monthly increase of €90 for trainees and dual students who work and study at the same time. In addition, it demands the continuation of the so-called postal allowance for the company's civil servants.
