News

Several thousand workers took to the street this week to protest a move by struggling German retailer Real to exit a collective bargaining agreement negotiated by UNI affiliate ver.di. Real is a subsidiary of Metro group, one of the biggest retail companies in the world.

A ver.di representative told the media that over 4,000 employees took part in the rally outside the headquarters of Metro. A petition with around 25,000 signatures was also delivered to a representative of Metro. Ver.di board member Stefanie Nutzenberger warned of further industrial action and protest if the company fails to come to the table and engage in meaningful dialogue.

Real, which employs around 37,000 people in 300 stores has been struggling for some time as German consumers have changed their shopping habits from big mega stores such as Real, and towards online and small, local shops. Parent company Metro have tried, and failed, to sell the Real business many times, and is now seeking to project the negative effects of poor profits onto its workers.

Head of UNI Commerce Alke Boessiger said “UNI fully supports the actions taken by ver.di and Real employees in standing up to management. Real cannot expect their employees to accept the annulment of an existing collective bargaining agreement, for an in-house wage deal which will increase the working week and make holiday and Christmas bonuses dependent on Real’s financial result.”

“Workers deserve to be fairly compensated for their work, rather than punished for the company’s floundering financial state. These kinds of issues, as well as the ways we can encourage global actions to support German workers, are the types of challenges that we will discuss at the upcoming global network meeting in November.”