Ver.di droht mit Ausweitung der Strikes im Einzelhandel

Customers may soon find themselves in front of closed doors when doing their weekly shopping: The Ver.di union is ready to significantly expand the industrial action in retail. The background is the collective bargaining round that has been ongoing since April, in which there is still no result despite numerous negotiating meetings.

"If the employers don't move in the next few weeks, we will intensify the strike measures," said Ver.di board member Silke Zimmer to the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" ("SZ"). It is conceivable that employees would then stop working for several days. “We specifically target those companies that are blocking the negotiations.”

Ver.di is demanding seven percent more money for its employees; they should earn at least 14.90 euros per hour. According to the union, the collective agreement applies to around a quarter of the more than three million salespeople in retail. Ver.di justifies the demand, among other things, with the price increases in recent years and the start of the war between the USA and Iran, as a result of which gasoline and diesel became significantly more expensive. Economists predict that inflation will rise to around three percent this year; in July it climbed to 2.8 percent compared to the same month last year.

Some supermarket and discounter chains such as Aldi and Lidl are unlikely to be affected - they say they already pay their employees above-standard remuneration. Employees at Rewe and Edeka stores could be at risk of a strike; conditions here are often somewhat worse. During this collective bargaining round, there have also been warning strikes at Kaufland and at the Ikea furniture store.

The employers recently offered the union 4.4 percent wage increases. There is hardly any leeway, said the collective bargaining manager of the HDE trade association, Steven Haarke, according to “SZ” before the start of negotiations. “In the current situation, these Ver.di demands unfortunately ignore the reality of many retail companies.”

A particular point of contention in collective bargaining revolves around the situation of younger salespeople. The employers' current offer is so low that their salaries in some regions are actually caught up with the minimum wage, which the federal government wants to increase from the current 13.90 to 14.60 euros per hour on January 1, 2027. “This is a scandal,” says Zimmer, after all, most retail workers have completed vocational training. "You deserve more appreciation than the minimum wage."