Germany: Union calls for nationwide postal strikes
January 19, 2023
Workers in all letter and parcel centers at Germany's postal service, Deutsche Post, were called to strike by trade union Verdi on Thursday.
The walkout was announced from 17:00 (16:00 UTC) on Thursday and all day on Friday. Verdi said in a tweet that "more strikes will follow in the following days."
The call for industrial action comes after no progress was made in the second round of negotiations.
"The employers have made it very clear that they are not prepared to to compensate for the loss in real wages and inflation," said Verdi negotiator Andrea Kocsis.
What are unions demanding for postal workers in Germany?
The trade union is demanding a 15% pay rise for approximately 160,000 employees in the company's lower salary brackets.
Kocsis pointed out that the majority of Verdi's members working at Deutsche Post had low pay rates and were battling financially under the current financial climate.
The last pay rise in January 2022 brought a 2% increase.
Deutsche Post DHL in numbers
According to market and consumer analysis company Statista, Deutsche Post delivers 49 million letters and 6.7 million parcels each day in Germany alone.
The Deutsche Post DHL Group employs around 590,000 people worldwide, and its business outside of Germany accounts for the lion's share of earnings.
The company expects a record operating profit of €8.4 billion ($9.1 billion) in 2022, of which around €1.35 billion comes from traditional letter and parcel deliveries in Germany.
kb/rt (dpa, Reuters)