In the last days before Christmas, the Verdi union will be striking retailers nationwide with various actions. In some federal states, such as Berlin, Brandenburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, work was stopped in some shops on Wednesday. In Chemnitz, Zwickau and Leipzig, the union has called for industrial action for the entire week, from Monday to Saturday. According to the announcements, the focus is primarily on the large supermarket and discount chains as well as H&M, Ikea and Thalia.
There are plans to strike in Berlin and Brandenburg until Saturday. Warning strikes have been announced in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania until Thursday, but the union has not yet revealed its plans for the days after.
Impact on Christmas business still unclear
The tariff conflict in retail has been going on for months. Verdi is demanding, among other things, at least 2.50 euros more per hour in retail in all regions and a term of one year. Depending on the federal state, there are additional requirements. At the end of November, representatives met at a top-level meeting at the federal level, which ultimately did not lead to any progress.
Last Friday, the Verdi federal executive board called on retail employees to take strike action between Thursday and Saturday. The regional associations are now planning very differently based on this call. The numerous warning strikes in recent months did not generally lead to branch closures. Here and there shelves in stores remained empty for a long time. It initially remained unclear what effects the actions would have on the days immediately before Christmas.
Various actions are also planned in NRW cities
Verdi Hessen is planning a day of action in Frankfurt this Friday (December 22nd). Several hundred strikers from various retail companies such as Rewe, Ikea and Kaufland will then gather in front of the ‘Frankfurter Rundschau’ building, where the workforce is fighting for its own collective agreement. Warning strikes are planned in Lower Saxony and Bremen on Saturday.
Verdi in North Rhine-Westphalia announced that it would turn the pre-Christmas period into strike time with “several thousand retail strikers.” Actions are planned in Bielefeld, Dortmund, Bergisch-Gladbach and Cologne, among others. In Bielefeld, a striking Christmas Grinch will march through the city center with other strikers on Thursday. In Dortmund, H&M employees want to hand out postcards in front of their branch on Friday. Amazon employees from the Werne and Dortmund locations also want to demonstrate in Dortmund. (dpa)