Status: 01/23/2023 1:49 p.m
After the ver.di trade union went on warning strike, postal workers first had to deliver millions of leftover items. Before the next bargaining round, there could be more work stoppages.
After the three-day warning strike by postal and parcel deliverers, postal customers should be prepared for further protest actions by the ver.di trade union. She reserves the right to further protest actions at Deutsche Post before the third round of negotiations in early February.
Collective bargaining is scheduled to continue on February 8th and 9th, 2023. A ver.di spokesman emphasized that new strikes cannot be ruled out: “I will not comment on specific plans.”
Delivered by Tuesday evening
First of all, however, the employees of the post office have to process the consignments left behind after the three-day warning strike – three million letters and one million parcels are now to be delivered. According to the company, the shipments affected correspond to around 15 percent of the daily average for parcels and six percent for letters.
A Post spokesman assured that these shipments would be delivered by Tuesday evening at the latest. “Since such industrial action has also taken place from time to time in previous years, there are well-established processes to reduce accumulated backlogs as quickly as possible.”
“Clear signal to employers”
Ver.di had struck letter and parcel centers from Thursday to Saturday. In collective bargaining, the union is demanding 15 percent more money for a one-year contract for the 160,000 employees in Germany. Training allowances are to be increased by 200 euros per month.
The union wants the warning strikes to be understood as a “clear signal to employers”. In the second round of negotiations, they made it clear that they were not willing or able to compensate for the real wage losses of the employees. “This is a provocation to which the employees are now giving a clear answer,” said a spokesman.
“Realistic Demand”
The Post had repeatedly dismissed the salary claim as unrealistic. The company had announced that it would put an offer on the table in the third round of negotiations.
The group expects a record profit of around 8.4 billion euros for 2022. “Against this background, our collective bargaining demands are necessary, fair and feasible,” says Ver.di negotiator Andrea Kocsis.