The collective bargaining dispute in retail is coming to a head. In a letter available to the German Press Agency, the Bavarian retail trade threatened the Verdi union with claims for damages because of the recent warning strikes.
“The threat of claims for damages by companies is of course an escalation, but we also have to defend ourselves,” said the managing director of the Bavarian association Bernd Ohlmann on Friday. “There are companies that have already suffered millions in damage from what we believe to be illegal warning strikes.” Ohlmann was convinced that other state associations would follow suit. Verdi dismissed the threat as insubstantial.
The German Trade Association, which coordinates collective bargaining for employers at the federal level, emphasized that the warning strikes were inadmissible in the eyes of the trade. “The strike is only exceptionally a permissible breach of contract when it comes to demands that the collective bargaining partners can regulate by way of the collective agreement.”
After careful examination, however, the employers’ associations in the retail trade came to the conclusion that the current strike measures in the retail trade did not meet these requirements. It is unacceptable that the union wants to use industrial action against companies that are already bound by collective agreements to force the joint application for the collective agreement to be generally binding.
Ohlmann emphasized that if only one demand during a warning strike is inadmissible, the entire warning strike is illegal and the companies on strike are threatened with lawsuits. To prevent this, Verdi would have to adjust the demands.
Verdi: Writing has no substance whatsoever
Verdi’s chief negotiator in the wage talks on retail in Bavaria, Hubert Thiermeyer, emphasized that the letter had “no substance whatsoever, we will not adjust the demands.” There has already been a lawsuit on the subject in North Rhine-Westphalia. “The labor court ruled in our favor there.”
A spokeswoman for the NRW trade association explained that the most populous federal state shares the legal opinion of the Bavarian colleagues. Nevertheless, one will not follow her step for the time being.
The general manager of the North Trade Association, Dierk Böckenholt, also classified the strikes as “probably illegal”. Whether they justify compensation depends on other factors. He urged Verdi to focus on real negotiations. So far, the union has not been ready nationwide for this.
Böckenholt criticized Verdi as a matter of principle even rejecting a timely inflation compensation bonus for employees in the retail trade as part of the solution. “If there is no change in attitude and Verdi continues to make no contribution to the finding of results, the companies should have illegal strikes legally prevented and also reserve the right to claim damages.” Holstein and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. (dpa)