Wage negotiations for some 170,000 employees at German postal service Deutsche Post were set to begin on Wednesday, with trade union verdi calling for a 7% pay rise.
Persistent staggering costs and food prices “can only be overcome with significant wage increases for employees,” verdi chief negotiator Andrea Kocsis said in a statement published ahead of the collective bargaining talks on Tuesday.
The vast majority of post office employees still earn less than the median income in Germany, she added.
The union’s demands also include additional leave days over a period of 12 months to offset the high physical stress that nine out of 10 postal workers are subjected to, according to verdi, for example when carrying parcels weighing up to 31.5 kilograms and working in extreme weather conditions.
“The sick leave rate is at a record high,” said Kocsis.
Deutsche Post said the unions demands were at odds with the business’ reality, citing high investment requirements and shrinking letter volumes.
Deutsche Post also said it had increased salaries by an average of 11.5% since the last agreement but added it would enter the negotiations constructively regardless.
Deutsche Post, a division of global logistics giant DHL Group, grew out of the formerly state-owned German postal service. But domestic mail delivery is now only a small – and generally unprofitable – part of the company’s business.
The company hiked its postage rate significantly at the turn of the year, increasing the price for a standard letter from €0.85 ($0.87) to €0.95.
