After the surprising termination of the restructuring collective agreement by the ailing department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, the Verdi union wants to negotiate a new agreement with the company management. “Not only the company, but also the approximately 17,000 employees are in dire straits. That’s why we will negotiate a collective agreement that guarantees a living wage,” said Verdi federal board member Stefanie Nutzberger on Thursday after a meeting of the collective bargaining committee in Frankfurt am Main.
The union emphasized that the employees are currently forgoing parts of the monthly collectively agreed income as well as the Christmas and vacation pay, which means an annual loss of around 5,500 euros for a full-time Galeria saleswoman. The minimum consideration is a collective agreement that guarantees a living wage. Verdi expects the owners and the management to come up with a concept for the future that reflects the company’s social responsibility and takes into account the plight of the employees. Negotiation dates are not yet known.
Germany’s last large department store group unilaterally terminated the restructuring collective agreement concluded after the merger of Karstadt and Kaufhof around two weeks ago, citing the company’s difficult economic situation as the reason for this. In a letter to employees, CEO Miguel Müllenbach explained that Galeria was “in a dangerous situation” due to skyrocketing energy prices and the current slump in consumption. In the meantime, the retail giant has again applied for state aid, as the German Press Agency from government circles has confirmed.
It is the third time in almost two years that the department store group wants to resort to state aid. At the beginning of 2021 and then again at the beginning of 2022, the company asked for state support because of the effects of the corona pandemic. The Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) helped the traditional company in two aid campaigns with a total of 680 million euros. (dpa)