Deutsche Post staff goes on indefinite strike

German consumers may get the products they ordered online later than expected. Employees of Deutsche Post went on a strike this afternoon and it’s still unclear when this will end. The strike is a result of the ongoing battle between Deutsche Post AG and the German trade union Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, better known under the abbreviation Ver.di.

Ver.di announced the strike on its website, where it says there’s a wage dispute about the employment and income conditions of some 140,000 employees of Deutsche Post. The Vereinte Denstleistungsgewerkschaft now increases the pressure by announcing a strike.

“During the previous six rounds of negotiations, Deutsche Post hasn’t moved a millimeter towards a settlement of the conflict. On the contrary, it ignores our offer that was meant to bring peace”, spokesperson Andrea Kocsis says. “Now we must massively increase the pressure, and we ask all the Ver.di members of Deutsche Post to join this indefinite strike.”

With what they call a comprehensive offering, Ver.di tried to convince Deutsche Post – “regardless of their breach of contract” – of an amicable solution and discouraged them to go into a conflict with their workers.

So the labor dispute is about payment conditions and working hours, but the core of the debate is the establishment of 49 regional companies that were founded by Deutsche Post for parcel deliveries. The 6,000 deliverymen aren’t getting paid according to the pay scale of the post office, but they receive the often lower wages from the logistics sector. Ver.di now wants the Deutsche Post employees to receive a one-off payment of 500 euros and a wage increase of 2.7% in 2016.

Deutsche Post declined this demand today. “This cannot contribute to securing the future of our employees and the company”, personnel manager Melanie Kreis reacted. Every day, the Bonn-based company transports about 3.4 million parcels as well as 64 million letters. According to Deutsche Post, 94% of the deliveries reach their destination within a day. Now with the strike, this number can no longer be met, as Die Welt writes.