German Postal Strikes End

Germany’s postal service reached a wage deal with unions representing 160,000 workers Tuesday, putting an end to a series of brief strikes that slowed mail service and averting broader stoppages.

Workers at partly privatized Deutsche Post will get a 3.5 percent increase for the year beginning June 1, another 3.2 percent a year later for a period of eleven months, and a one-time payment of 43 euros ($41).

“Our customers again have the reliability they need, and we at Deutsche Post have wage and benefit predictability,” company negotiator Walter Scheurle said.

Rolf Buettner, lead negotiatior for the ver.di service workers union, said the deal was a model for other services sectors of the economy. “This is a great success, one you can feel good about,” he said after the all-night negotiations in the western city of Muenster.

The company agreed to give workers in economically depressed eastern Germany the same bonuses that workers get in the west, where pay is often higher. Year-end bonuses are an important part of the pay structure in Germany.

Brief, scattered strikes — a common tactic used by German unions during negotiations — had slowed mail in some regions over the past week.

Also Tuesday, ver.di began balloting some 240,000 members working in the insurance industry on strike action to support their pay demands. The union, which expects to complete the ballot next week, is demanding 6.5 percent for those workers. It had demanded the same for the postal workers.

Ver.di is also threatening to take a vote by bank workers on broad strike action. About 3,000 bank employees held a two-hour strike in Mainz on Tuesday.