Starting today: Verdi calls for a two-day warning strike at Telekom

Monday, May 6, 2024, 07:52 hours: In the collective dispute with Deutsche Telekom, the Verdi services union increases pressure on employers. For the first time there will be nationwide warning strikes for two consecutive days next week, Verdi announced on Friday. Therefore, work stoppages will occur on Monday and Tuesday.

An offer presented by the employers last Tuesday in the third round of negotiations had leaned towards the workers' side, but it was not enough, the union justified. The wage increases offered are too low and the duration of the 27-month collective agreement is too long.

Verdi is currently negotiating on behalf of Deutsche Telekom's 70,000 employees nationwide and is demanding a 12 percent pay rise, but at least 400 euros more per month. According to the wishes of the union, the duration of the new collective agreement should be one year. Collective bargaining is scheduled to continue on May 13 and 14.

According to Verdi, around 12,000 employees across the country participated in warning strikes last Monday. “The colleagues remain very motivated and determined to assert their legitimate demands,” explained Pascal Röckert, leader of the labor dispute at Verdi. He announced that the next few days of the warning strike will be “characterized by greater participation than before.”

Verdi calls for a warning strike in Leipzig retail

Friday, May 3, 2024, 06:56 hours: The Verdi union called warning strikes in the Leipzig retail trade on Thursday. Verdi announced on Thursday that employees at several branches of Kaufland, Aldi, H&M, Primark and Netto in the regions of Leipzig-North Saxony and Chemnitz-Zwickau were asked to do so. The trigger for the call was that the trade association complained about a shortage of staff and skilled workers in retail on Labor Day, May 1. Among other things, a demonstration was planned for Thursday in the center of Leipzig.

The strikers demanded an “appreciative collective bargaining offer that guarantees real wages,” Verdi explained. At the beginning of November last year, the sixth round of negotiations in the collective dispute between retail and mail order in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia ended without results. According to the union, employers are currently refusing to negotiate a collective agreement.

Thursday, May 2, 2024, 8:52 a.m.: The union of food and leisure restaurants (NGG) has once again called for warning strikes at the home delivery service Lieferando. A union spokeswoman said drivers stopped working for several hours Wednesday. A spokesperson for the delivery service said Wednesday in response to a dpa request that consumers could continue to place orders. No restrictions are expected for either consumers or partner restaurants.

The background to the strike is NGG's demands for a collective agreement for Lieferando employees. “Lieferando has been pretending to be deaf for more than a year. “Especially after the high inflation of recent years, a collective agreement is needed,” said NGG department head Mark Baumeister. Just a few days ago, Lieferando employees demonstrated in front of the headquarters of the Dutch company Just Eat Takeaway in Amsterdam, to which the Lieferando brand belongs.

The NGG requires an hourly wage of at least 15 euros and payment of the thirteenth month's salary. He also wants to impose higher surcharges for evening shifts, Sundays and holidays.

The businessman, for his part, points out that the working conditions in Lieferando are higher than the sector average. The hourly wage is 14 euros and all drivers are employed directly by Lieferando. There are surcharges for working during peak hours, as well as other bonuses and flat rates. Instead, many other platforms work mainly with subcontractors who employ drivers in much worse conditions.

Collective bargaining conflict: the indefinite strike continues in an industrial company

Monday, April 29, 2024, 5:16 p.m.: The indefinite strike continues at the Schabmüller company in Berching, Upper Palatinate. The staff stopped working last Tuesday in the fight for a collective agreement. “No truck was loaded or unloaded, no system was operated, no customer was supplied,” IG Metall said Monday. Then, on Friday afternoon, the businessman expressed his willingness to negotiate.

However, the businessman did not want to negotiate until the following week, according to an IG Metall spokesperson. In addition, it is necessary to resume work.

“Last Friday we stated that we will only be able to end the strike with a negotiated outcome and that we are willing to negotiate with him on April 30 and May 2. Unfortunately, management has not yet responded to our proposed dates,” said negotiator Olga Redda. “We want to resolve the conflict, but this requires a signed outcome, without which employees are unwilling to return to work.”

The strike was reportedly preceded by four rounds of failed negotiations and, most recently, a 24-hour warning strike. About 20 years ago, Schabmüller left the vbm business association and therefore abandoned the collective agreement, as announced by IG Metall. The pay gap is now 22 percent. The union calls for a gradual return to the collective agreement.

The company belongs to the Italian ZAPI group based near Bologna. Schabmüller produces electric drive solutions for electric motors and generators and has around 500 employees. Initially there was no comment from management.

The indefinite strike is the strongest means of the right to strike, which IG Metall claims to use very rarely. This last occurred in 2020 in Bavaria, in Sonthofen.

warning strike at Ikea in Saxony-Anhalt: Verdi wants to increase the pressure

Sunday, April 28, 2024, 09:38 am: The Verdi union again called on employees of the Ikea furniture stores in Magdeburg and Halle-Leipzig to go on a warning strike on Friday. After a brief pause in the strike in Saxony-Anhalt, Verdi is increasing the pressure in the stalled collective bargaining battle, the Verdi regional district of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia said. A demonstration is planned in front of the Magdeburg branch of the Swedish furniture retailer.

“The employers' association is trying to stifle collective bargaining with a mixture of collective bargaining dictates, painkillers, bonuses for breaking strikes, reprimands and pressure,” said Christine Stoffl, Verdi's Magdeburg union secretary for the trade department. In view of the growing profits of retail in recent years, including Ikea, this behavior is completely unacceptable.

Collective bargaining in retail and mail trade in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia ended without results at the beginning of November. Verdi demands, among other things, 2.50 euros more hourly wages for employees, which corresponds to an increase in the base salary of around 15 percent. The term should be one year. According to Verdi, employers offer a 10 percent increase, spread over two years. According to Verdi, at the moment there is no new date for the trial.

Local transport has been paralyzed in many areas of Saxony since Saturday

Saturday, April 27, 2024, 9:56 a.m.: Regular regional services in Saxony have been practically paralyzed since Saturday. The Verdi union called an indefinite strike on Friday. The strike began as planned, Verdi negotiator Sven Vogel announced Saturday morning. After the local transport employers' association (AVN) was unable to present a concrete and improved offer despite an extension of the deadline, the collective bargaining commission decided to go on strike starting at midnight.

Since then there has been no further comment from the businessman, says Vogel. However, if the employer presents an offer for a salary increase during the negotiations scheduled for Monday in Dresden, Verdi is willing to interrupt the labor dispute at any time.

According to the information, local transport companies in the districts of Vogtlandkreis, Zwickau, Erzgebirgskreis, Central Saxony, Meißen, Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains, Bautzen and Görlitz, as well as local transport companies in Chemnitz and Dresden will be affected by unemployment. Companies that apply the tariff framework but are not organized in the AVN are also affected. These include DB Regio Ost, the Oberlausitz Niesky bus service and Straßenbahn-Bus GmbH Plauen.

According to the union, employers recently offered a three-tier raise totaling 13.7 percent and an inflation compensation bonus. Verdi, on the other hand, demands, among other things, an increase in remuneration of 22 percent, but at least 750 euros per month, as well as an increase in monthly remuneration of 200 euros for apprentices and interns, both on a retroactive to January 1 of this year.

You can read more information about warning attacks on the following pages.