Warning strikes today hit Deutsche Post DHL mail and parcel operations in Germany as services union
Verdi stepped up pressure in an ongoing dispute over lower-paid jobs and working conditions.
Several thousand staff took part in stoppages in parcel sorting operations and also in
letter processing and deliveries at locations across the country, the union claimed. Further
warning strikes will be held on Friday (April 17). The union also said there would be warning
strikes tomorrow at DHL Home Delivery GmbH, the separate e-commerce delivery subsidiary, in an
ongoing pay dispute.
The latest stoppages came after the two sides failed to reach any agreement during the last
round of negotiations on Tuesday (April 14). Thousands of Deutsche Post delivery staff already went
on a nationwide two-day strike across Germany earlier this month.
As part of the ongoing negotiations, Verdi demanded last month a weekly working time
reduction from 38.5 hours to 36 hours at unchanged wage levels for 140,000 Deutsche Post mail and
parcel employees in an escalation of the dispute over lower-paid parcel delivery workers.
Verdi said that the ‘model for weekly working time regulation’ already presented by Deutsche
Post during the first round of negotiations in March stipulates an individual spread of the weekly
working time ranging from 34-41 hours without taking into consideration Verdi’s demand for the
working time reduction at unchanged pay levels.
Andrea Kocsis, Verdi deputy chairwoman and head of its postal and logistics section, stated:
“We have rejected the model by Deutsche Post related to weekly working time restructuring as not
negotiable. After its breach of contract, the employees expect protection and security. We call for
a reduction in the weekly working time for all employees at unchanged wage levels and don’t accept
the possibility to increase the working time up to 41 hours. The postal operator was not able to
explain how its model impacts the monthly salary.”
Melanie Kreis, Deutsche Post Management Board member in charge of Human Resources, told
CEP-Research. “We cannot really negotiate on the wage level for the working time reduction demanded
by Verdi as long as we don’t know Verdi’s demand for the upcoming wage tariff negotiations.”
A Deutsche Post spokesman told CEP-Research: “The second round of negotiations in the
current collective labour agreement related to weekly working time reductions has been postponed
without any result. Four weeks ago, we already submitted a constructive and innovative concept for
the weekly working time regulation which goes even beyond Verdi’s demand. However, the union’s
demand to keep the wages unchanged can only be responded to in the context of the upcoming wage
negotiations. The previous wage agreement has been terminated by the Verdi tariff commission more
than a month ago. Although the timely transmission of specific wage demand had been announced to
us, we haven’t received it yet. We are in ongoing talks which will continue this month.”
In terms of the concept for the weekly working time reduction, the DP DHL spokesman
explained that while the weekly hours are being reduced from 38.5 to 36 hours per week, the working
time can individually be reduced to 34 hours maximum and raised to 41 hours, depending on the age.
“For us, this is a further component to adjust to the demographic shift. The proposition
pays tribute to the union’s demand to reduce the working time from 38.5 to 36 hours per week for
the 130,000 employees bound by the collective labour agreement. In addition, we suggested in a
further step to enable individual employees, if requested, to further reduce their weekly working
time to 34 hours. Moreover, there is the possibility to voluntarily increase the working time to
the existing level of 38.5 hours, and if desired, to 41 hours. The employees aged 50-59 could, if
desired, increase their regular working time by half an hour to 39 hours per week. The employees
aged over 60 only have the possibility to increase their weekly working time to 38.5 hours,” the
spokesman explained.
“This would be a fair solution in our opinion which considers the interest of the staff in
an age-based working time regulation and economic leeway of the company. After the introduction of
the intergenerational contract in 2011 und its further development last year, this represents a
further component towards age-based employment at Deutsche Post AG,” he added.
Referring to the strike action, the spokesman said: “We will do our utmost to keep the
impact on our customers as low as possible. In the beginning of April, we succeeded in doing so as
only 10 per cent of the shipments were impacted on the first day and even less than that on the
second day, which were then delivered on the next working day. We implement different measures to
minimise the impact on the operations and eliminate potential shipment backlog. For example, we
deploy our colleagues working in the administration or sales department to help out.”
This latest warning strikes represent the latest stage in the ongoing labour dispute over
Deutsche Post’s plans to create up to 10,000 lower-paid parcel delivery jobs in Germany in new
regional companies based on local collective pay agreements. These plans have been heavily
criticised by the union which claims that by creating 49 regional companies for parcel delivery,
the postal operator is violating the existing agreement with Verdi which excludes outsourcing of
deliveries to internal or external companies.
“The existing contract that excludes outsourcing specifies that a maximum of 990 parcel
delivery districts can be operated by group subsidiaries and third parties,” the union reiterated.
According to Verdi, Deutsche Post employees had made concessions in terms of holidays and breaks
and Deutsche Post, in turn, agreed to outsource only 990 from around 9,800 of its parcel districts
to other companies. “With our demand for the working time reduction at unchanged pay levels, this
breach of contract should be compensated,” Verdi concluded.
The next round of negotiations has been set for 27-28 April 2015 in Siegburg, Germany.
