The union Verdi announced on Saturday that it will continue holding warning strikes against Deutsche Telekom on Monday and Tuesday. The aim of these strikes is to increase pressure on the employers as the company enters the third round of negotiations.
Specific strike actions have been planned for various regions. On Monday, employees in Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Thuringia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and North Rhine-Westphalia are called to strike. The strikes are scheduled for the following day, Tuesday, in Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg. In addition, around 3,000 employees are expected to gather for a rally in Potsdam on Monday morning, coinciding with the negotiation round there.
Verdi negotiation leader Frank Sauerland criticized the employers’ approach on Saturday, describing it as a “policy of maintaining the status quo” and a sign of a lack of appreciation. He noted that despite employees generating “record results” for the corporate group over the past two years, the employers have failed to submit any official offers over the course of two negotiation rounds.
Verdi has outlined several demands for this year’s collective bargaining process. The union seeks a pay increase of 6.6% with a contract duration of twelve months. Furthermore, Verdi wishes to introduce a “members’ bonus” of €660 per year. They also demand that training stipends and salaries for dual students be increased by €120 each month.
