“Enormous” waiting times
Verdi calls on Telekom customer service to go on strike on Sunday
May 12, 2024, 7:33 a.m
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The union’s call comes at short notice for the start of shifts: In order to increase the pressure on Telekom, customer service employees should stop working today. Thousands of employees had already taken part in warning strikes last week.
The Verdi service union has called on Telekom customer service employees to go on warning strikes at short notice this Sunday. From the start of the morning shift at 6 a.m., employees are asked to stop work for their entire shift, Verdi explained in the morning. According to the union, this is intended to increase the pressure on employers ahead of a new round of collective bargaining for the approximately 70,000 collective bargaining employees on Monday and Tuesday.
On Friday, Verdi had already announced a “full-shift” work stoppage for Monday. The union had already organized warning strikes at Telekom on Monday and Tuesday last week. According to the union, 13,000 employees took part on both days, which means there were “enormous” waiting times in customer service, technician appointments were canceled and some Telekom shops remained closed.
The union’s central demands are a salary increase of twelve percent and at least 400 euros per month for a period of twelve months. The employers’ current offer is too low and, at 27 months, is too long. “There must be a clear move in the decisive round of negotiations if a prolonged conflict is to be averted,” explained Pascal Röckert from Verdi.