Troubled German private mail company PIN Group, which is seeking a buyer, has announced that itwill pay staff the new legal minimum postal wage, in contrast to rival TNT Post. Meanwhile, a
further 19 PIN subsidiaries will declare insolvency this week.In a statement, the new PIN Group CEO Horst Piepenburg said: “We don’t want any pay-dumping.The management of all 91 operating subsidiaries had been instructed to pay staff the new legalminimum wage for the postal sector with effect from January 1, 2008″, he stated. This means thatsorting and delivery staff, who up to now earned about EUR 7.50 per hour on average, will receivepay in the range of EUR 8 – EUR 9.80 per hour.
The news followed the move by TNT Post Germany to avoid paying the new minimum postal wageand instead to pay staff a minimum level of EUR 7.50 (EUR 6.50 in eastern Germany) based on an “added-value services” collective agreement. TNT is taking legal action against the German minimumpostal wage law. PIN said it would monitor this legal action “very closely”.
Meanwhile, Piepenburg also said that another 19 PIN Group subsidiaries would declareinsolvency this week, meaning that 7,500 of the group’s total 9,000 staff would be working ininsolvent companies. “It is amazing what the staff have achieved in such a short time. With thesupport of our committed staff, PIN delivery services will remain guaranteed,” he declared.
He rejected claims that PIN was financing its insolvent subsidiaries, including the higherwages, through taxpayers’ money. Under German insolvency law, staff salaries are paid up to amaximum of three months by unemployment offices from a fund collectively financed by employercontributions.
