Germany: Verdi union calls for three-day strike in insurance from Monday, June 20th

The framework collective agreement at the heart of the conflict.  Martina Sönnichsen, Verdi spokesperson, told Planet Labor that the strikes would begin today in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg, Berlin and the city of Leipzig.  They will go on on Tuesday and Wednesday in other Länder.  Verdi is expecting between 7,000 and 8,000 strikers a day.  The last bargaining round failed on may 31st.  Mrs. Sönnichsen says that employers are the ones to blame for this escalation since “they want wage negotiations to be contingent on changes to the framework collective agreement.  Yet, these changes would translate into an intolerable worsening of employees’ working conditions.”  Verdi’s spokeswoman says that the employers’ federation of German insurance companies (AGV) is also calling for an extension of the duration of fixed-term contracts to four years as well as the extension of low-wage categories.  “Employers want to open up groups A and B, at the very bottom of the scale, to new categories of employees, who used to receive higher wages, such as kitchen or cleaning agents.  Thus, after recruitment, they would earn less than their colleagues” Sönnichsen explained.  These categories were created in 2007 to add some categories of workers (preparing postal sorting) to collective agreements (see our dispatch No.  070968).  Verdi says employers also want to increase working time on Saturdays and remove Christmas and New Year’s Eves.  “As long as employers haven’t withdrawn these terms, we can’t negotiate pay” the spokesperson insisted.