Status: 05.02.2023 3:43 p.m
If you want to send letters and parcels at the start of the week, you have to be prepared for delays. Reason are renewed warning strikes at the post office. Tariff talks are to continue on Wednesday.
In the collective bargaining dispute at Deutsche Post, the service union ver.di wants to increase the pressure with new warning strikes. On Monday and Tuesday, employees nationwide were called to walkouts. Letter and parcel centers as well as the delivery of shipments are affected.
According to the union, they would be accompanied by rallies in ten cities. On Monday, employees in Berlin, Rostock and Munich wanted to take to the streets. Demonstrations in Dortmund, Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main are to follow on Tuesday.
Ver.di demands 15 percent more wages
“This is again a crystal-clear signal to the employers: The employees are ready to fight for their demands and are now expecting a round of negotiations that will end with a strong salary increase,” emphasized ver.di negotiator Andrea Kocsis. In view of inflation, the union is demanding a wage increase of 15 percent for twelve months. The training allowances are to be increased by 200 euros per month for each year of training.
The union also refers to the expected record results of the post office. According to the group, the majority of the profit is generated in international business. The postal and parcel business in Germany, on the other hand, is declining.
Post sees demand as “remote from reality”
The Post had therefore repeatedly rejected the salary claim as unrealistic. “In order to be able to pay attractive wages and to secure jobs in this area in the long term, increases in income of the magnitude demanded by ver.di are not justifiable,” a spokesman had made clear. Collective bargaining will continue on Wednesday and Thursday in Düsseldorf.
At the end of January, warning strikes lasting several days had already taken place at Swiss Post against the background of the ongoing wage dispute. According to the company, there were impairments in the delivery of letters and parcels. According to ver.di, tens of thousands of employees took part at the time.