After Strike, German Postal Workers Win Contract

(This article first appeared in the September-October 2015 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

After a four-week strike, German postal workers have secured a contract.

Workers represented by the trade union Ver.di came to an agreement with Deutsche Post on July 7. Gains include:

• All workers will be protected from layoffs until the end of 2019.
• Letter and parcel delivery outsourcing will be prohibited until the end of 2018.
• All 4,500 workers who were employed by temporary contracts as of July 1, will be given permanent jobs.
• All 2015 trainees/apprentices will be granted full-time employment when their apprenticeships end.
• Workers will receive what we call cost-of-living adjustments each year until 2017.
• There will also be no new lower-wage tier.

 “We could not have achieved this without the commitment and dedication of the strikers,” said Andrea Kocsis, Ver.di deputy president and chief negotiator.