DPWN Workers are Prepared to Strike

German union Verdi said on Friday it had called on workers at postal and logistics group Deutsche Post AG to prepare for a strike after a round of pay negotiations ended without a firm offer. ‘We are very disappointed because the employer does not follow its words with actions,’ the union said in a statement. ‘Only through the pressure of the postal workers will anything happen at the negotiation table.’ Verdi is asking for a 6.5 percent pay rise for the roughly 240,000 Deutsche Post employees. A Deutsche Post spokesman said the current negotiations only affect 160,000 of the company’s workers. Deutsche Post’s chief negotiator said in a statement he was confident the two sides would come to an agreement at the next round of talks in June. ‘Today’s negotiations were led in a constructive and professional atmosphere,’ he said