According to the union, the United Services Union (Verdi) and the management of the insolvent department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof GmbH agreed shortly before Christmas on a solution for insolvency money for the around 17,400 affected employees of the retailer.
The amount of the insolvency money was disputed between the negotiating parties because the retailer had terminated the integration and transitional collective agreement that had been in force up to that point in October. The union said it then took the view that “in the event of insolvency, retail collective agreements prevail” and has now prevailed “after very difficult negotiations”. The employer side was therefore able to claim that “the retrospective payment according to the area collective agreements is only granted to those who have been dismissed, not to the entire workforce”.
According to the trade union, the regional collective bargaining agreements in the retail trade are now decisive for the amount of the insolvency money. “With the registration of the insolvency proceedings on October 31, 2022, the employees are then entitled to insolvency money in this amount for three months, i.e. from November 2022 to January 2023,” explained Verdi in a statement. “In addition, they each receive three-twelfths of the vacation pay and the special payment (Christmas bonus) also according to the area collective agreements.”
According to the union, the collectively agreed benefits agreed for such cases are now also retrospectively given to “employees who receive a dismissal for operational reasons during the insolvency proceedings” as well as employees who “lose their jobs due to a branch closure”.