Post and Package Workers in Germany Reach New Collective Bargaining Agreement
In the fourth round of collective bargaining at the German Post, the Verdi union and the employers have agreed on wage increases and more vacation time. Both parties announced the agreement in the afternoon on Tuesday.
The collective bargaining agreement, which will run for 24 months until December 31, 2026, provides for a total of 5% more pay for all employees covered by the collective agreement, as well as apprentices and dual students, with 2% as of April 1, 2025 and an additional 3% as of April 1, 2026.
As of January 1, 2026, all employees will receive an additional vacation day per year and those who have been with the company for at least 16 years will receive an additional vacation day per year.
Verdi expressed satisfaction with the agreement, stating that it would not have been possible without the pressure and high strike readiness of its members. The union’s deputy chair and chief negotiator, Andrea Kocsis, said, “This is a decent result and we were able to achieve it through the pressure and high strike readiness of our members.”
Ms. Kocsis added that the agreement marks a significant improvement over the employers’ initial offer, particularly in terms of wages, the agreement’s duration and the additional vacation time. “The additional vacation day for all and an additional vacation day for long-serving employees will provide more relief for employees who work in physically demanding jobs” she said.
Thomas Ogilvie, the Deutsche Post’s corporate board member for personnel and labor director, described the negotiations as “extremely challenging.” Given the company’s business development, there was “little room for wage increases” he said.
Mr. Ogilvie stated, “After a very high collective bargaining agreement in 2023, we are once again implementing wage increases that will maintain the purchasing power of our employees over the agreed-upon term of the collective agreement. The agreement is also good for our customers, as the strikes are over and the focus is once again on high service quality and reliability. However, the structural problems that are burdening Post and Package Germany are not off the table yet.”
According to the company, it is in the midst of a transformation from a letter to a package business. The structural decline in letter volumes has accelerated significantly, the regulatory environment is unfavorable and the cost burden from the last collective bargaining agreements is significant. At the same time, there is still a high investment requirement for the modernization of the letter and package network infrastructure, as well as for the ecological sustainability of the company’s business area.