Deutsche Post and services union Verdi were today locked in talks over a possible last-minute pay and working conditions deal to stave off a collapse in negotiations that could result in a wide-ranging mail and parcel delivery strike in Germany.
The two sides are holding two days of talks in Berlin that continue tomorrow in what is the sixth round of negotiations since mid-March, and which have been accompanied by a series of warning strikes and work stoppages across the country.
Verdi has already called a meeting of its ‘tariff commission’ in Berlin on Wednesday (June 3). German media have speculated that if there is no deal to be voted on, then union officials might declare the negotiations as ‘failed’, paving the way for a large-scale strike. Verdi chairman Frank Brirske has already threatened regular strikes.
Verdi’s deputy chairwoman Andrea Kocsis said yesterday: “We call on the board of Deutsche Post to end the confrontation course against its own workforce. In the forthcoming round of negotiations we need an offer that we can agree on.”
The labour dispute centres on pay and working conditions, as well as claims of broken agreements. The union claims that Deutsche Post’s creation of 49 regional parcel delivery companies, employing full-time workers at lower pay level, breaches a contract that prevents the company from outsourcing delivery to internal or external companies beyond the existing 990 parcel delivery districts.
At the same time, the two sides have so far failed to reach an agreement over pay and working times for some 140,000 employees covered by the collective pay agreement. The union has demanded a 5.5% pay rise and wants a reduction in weekly working hours from 38.5 to 36 hours without any equivalent reduction in payment, which it says would compensate for the ‘breach of contract’ over the regional parcel delivery companies.
But Deutsche Post claims this would amount to an effective pay rise of 12.5% that would impact on its competitiveness. Instead, it is offering extended protection against dismissal and longer paid working breaks.
