OREANDA-NEWS. After the fifth round of the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations with social partner Verdi, Deutsche Post has called upon the public services union to take a constructive approach to the talks. In the most recently concluded round, Verdi had again failed to come up with a binding response to a range of proposals put forward by Deutsche Post. An offer the employer had laid on the table back in the fourth round has been completely dismissed throughout. The offer addresses Verdi’s demand for shorter working hours and includes a further extension of a protection against dismissal pact, taking it through to the end of 2018.

“In the interests of our employees, we call upon Verdi to come to the negotiation table with binding, solutions-based proposals,” says Melanie Kreis, Board Member for Human Resources and Labor Director at Deutsche Post DHL Group. “Intransigence makes no contribution at all to securing the company’s competitiveness. Nor does it indicate willingness to reach agreement.”

The dispute stems from Verdi’s demand at the start of the year for DHL Delivery GmbH’s new regional parcel delivery companies to be disbanded. Some 6,000 employees have since received permanent employment contracts with these new companies. Of these, over 2,000 have been recruited from the external jobs market. By the end of the year, the DHL Delivery GmbH workforce will boast 8,500 employees. This means the creation of at least 4,500 new, permanent jobs secured under collective bargaining agreements. The establishment of works council representation is also well underway in the new companies which have been in operation for just three months. This will provide a platform for the regular employee-employer exchange that has a long-standing tradition at Deutsche Post. The election committees in many of the companies have already begun preparing for the election of local DHL Deliver GmbH works council representatives.

The new companies are subject to collective bargaining agreements drawn up by Verdi and the respective regional industry associations. Providing pay at an average 50% more than the statutory minimum wage, these ensure employees the highest rates in the German freight and logistics sector.