News

After constructive negotiations between the youth fashion design company Zara and the services union Verdi, a national collective agreement has been signed covering 4000 employees.

Zara employees will in future enjoy the legal protection afforded by our collective agreements. Furthermore, both parties are sending out a strong signal that for young successful retailers too, collective agreements in the commerce sector represent a model for a modern corporate policy. "Collective agreements are not a hangover from the past, but rather an important benchmark for a living wage and decent jobs", according to Arno Peukes, Verdi's chief negotiator during the negotiations with Zara.

Zara had already decided voluntarily to apply the provisions of the collective agreements negotiated by the retail sector in Hamburg. From now on, these provisions will become legally binding and apply to all workers. "We decided that in our negotiations with Zara, we would follow the regulations set out in the Hamburg collective agreements and even improve on them. For example, employees who work on Sundays will get double the bonuses provided for under the Hamburg collective agreements. "As far as working hours and leave of absence for trade union work are concerned, the company has accepted a more flexible arrangement", says Orhan Akman, Verdi's co-negotiator. The agreement also provides for a time limit that will be applicable to all fixed-term contracts.

Zara is the first retailer in Germany to accept that the statutory two-year limitation on fixed-term contracts be reduced to one year. This means that as of now, all employees will be given the possibility of having their fixed-term contracts switched fairly rapidly into contracts of unlimited duration, giving them a more secure future. According to Victor Ettle, Chairman of the Central Works Council, this was an enormous success. The Central Works Council supported and followed the progress of the negotiations throughout.