Before the start of collective bargaining at Deutsche Post, Verdi gambled up. The union justifies the demand for a salary increase of 15 percent with rising inflation, among other things. The company reacts cautiously.
The Verdi union is entering the collective bargaining negotiations at Deutsche Post with a surprise: it is demanding 15 percent more wages for the approximately 160,000 employees of the “yellow giant”. “Our members expect inflation compensation and also a share in the company’s success,” said Verdi negotiator Andrea Kocsis, explaining the decision of the wage commission. In a first statement, the Post described the demand as “unrealistic”.
With the demand for 15 percent more wages for postal workers, Verdi is taking on a pioneering role in the fight to compensate for high inflation for workers. Verdi and the civil servants’ association dbb are demanding 10.5 percent more income for employees in the public sector.
The IG Metall recently went into action with the demand for 8.0 percent more money for the 3.8 million employees in the metal and electrical industry. Last week, the collective bargaining partners in the pilot district of Baden-Württemberg then agreed on a wage increase of 5.2 percent by June 2023 and a further 3.3 percent from May 2024 over a period of 24 months. There are also one-off payments of 3,000 euros, which the federal government had previously made tax and duty-free for all employees.
Verdi now goes far beyond that. The demand was preceded by a member survey in which more than 43,000 people took part, the union reported. “The result has clearly shown that employees expect to be compensated for inflation and also to share in the company’s success.” Verdi emphasized that Deutsche Post AG only recently announced that it would again improve on the record result of the past year.
The employees have worked under the highest stress in recent years and also need this significant wage increase in order to be able to secure their livelihood, said Kocsis. According to the ideas of the tariff commission, the training allowances and the salaries of the students should be increased by 200 euros per month in each training year. The collective agreement is to have a term of twelve months.
A company spokesman emphasized that in the forthcoming collective bargaining negotiations it will be important to strike a balance between wage increases for employees and economic viability for the company. “Unlike other companies, we cannot simply pass on cost increases to our customers due to the price-regulated letter prices,” said the spokesman.
At the same time, the group wants to continue investing in the future of its letter and parcel business and the conversion to an ecologically sustainable and thus climate-neutral universal postal service. “Against this background, claims in the amount mentioned are unrealistic,” said the post spokesman. Verdi has terminated the previous fee regulation at Swiss Post as of December 31, 2022. The peace obligation ends on this date. According to Verdi, collective bargaining will begin on January 6, 2023.
