The dispute between the Metro Group's hypermarket chain Real and trade union Verdi has been resolved after a breakthrough in its tariff debate.
The agreement to a future package with a three and a half year duration essentially stipulates that Real will fundamentally acknowledge the collective bargaining agreements of the retail sector and that the negotiations surrounding a new remuneration structure will begin in October 2016.
This agreement is based on the acceptance that Real employees will accept significant short-term savings. Vacation allowances for the calendar years 2017 to 2019, as outlined in the tariff, will be reduced to 40%, while Christmas allowances for the calendar years 2016 to 2018 will also be reduced to 40%, and to 70% in 2019.
Henning Gieseke and Patrick Müller-Sarmiento, chairman of the management board of Real, say: "The future package allows us to further promote investments in growth segments.
"Even though this means individual costs for all involved, employees, the management and also the works council and the trade union have now the opportunity to show that it is also possible to operate successfully in the German food retail sector with fully co-determined structures. Today’s agreement is a good starting point for this."
The agreement is subject to approval by Verdi members at Real, who will vote on the results.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by John Golden. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
