Deutsche Post shares lower: Verdi and Post come back to the negotiating table after a ballot

shares in this article

In the dispute, the course was already set for a strike: In a ballot at the Bonn-based group, 85.9 percent of those questioned had spoken out against a collective bargaining offer from the company and in favor of an indefinite strike. Nevertheless, after the announcement of the voting result on Thursday, Verdi declared itself ready for negotiations.

The union is demanding 15 percent more money for the 160,000 employees in the core business of the post office, i.e. the transport of letters and parcels in Germany. Swiss Post rejects this as not economically viable.

For Swiss Post, the danger of an open-ended labor dispute has not yet been averted. If the fronts remain entrenched in the talks on Friday, Verdi could still call for a strike. There had only been such a bitter labor dispute at the logistics company in this millennium, namely in 2015. At that time, masses of parcels and letters were left lying around due to a lack of staff. In the current wage conflict, there had already been temporary warning strikes in January and February.

Union demands significantly better offer from Post

In the collective bargaining dispute at Deutsche Post, the Verdi union is keeping the pressure on. If the group does not move in the fourth round of negotiations and does not “submit a materially significantly improved offer, we will go on strike next week,” said Andreas Henze, the state department head of Verdi Baden-Württemberg, the German Press Agency. He is a member of the union’s bargaining committee. Verdi and the Post want to return to the negotiating table on Friday, and the fourth round of talks in Düsseldorf is likely to last until Saturday. Verdi is demanding a 15 percent increase in fees, which Post considers to be economically unviable.

According to Verdi, in a ballot in the Post and Parcel Germany division, 85.9 percent of those surveyed opposed the company’s tariff offer and declared their willingness to go on an indefinite strike. This had only happened once for the logistician in this millennium, namely in 2015 – at that time the consequences were massive, many consumers had to wait a long time for packages and letters that were left behind. It would probably be the same this time. The strike would be expensive for Swiss Post, as it would probably have to pay for external storage capacity. In 2015, she had estimated the strike costs at 100 million euros.

After the result of the ballot was known on Thursday, the union could actually have called for a strike. For the time being, however, she refrained from doing so and instead complied with the employer’s request to return to the negotiating table. Trade unionist Henze said: “It’s up to the post office to move so that the collective bargaining conflict can be ended.”

In the XETRA business, the Post share temporarily lost 1.83 percent to EUR 40.70. /wdw/DP/jha

BONN (dpa-AFX)

Image sources: Oliver-Marc Steffen / Shutterstock.com, Tobias Arhelger / Shutterstock.com