Stabilize the Group in the long term
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof terminates collective agreement
07.10.2022, 7 p.m
In view of the sometimes considerable increase in the cost of living, consumers are holding back on consumption. The department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is now pulling the rip cord. The collective agreement must be renegotiated. For employees, this means that salary increases are off the table for the time being.
The slump in consumption is apparently making Germany’s last major department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof difficult. The retail chain announced that, in view of the tense economic situation, it had unilaterally terminated the integration wage agreement concluded with the Verdi union after the merger of Karstadt and Kaufhof. The aim is to “stabilize the company again in the long term”.
The company emphasized that the possibility of taking this step is expressly provided for in such cases in the collective agreement. But that doesn’t mean that Galeria is no longer bound by a collective agreement, it said. The consequence of this termination is, on the one hand, the “freezing” of the remuneration at the current wage level and, on the other hand, the obligation to negotiate with Verdi in order to adapt the tariff path to the new situation.
The collective agreement was signed after the merger of Karstadt and Kaufhof and not only secured the preservation of locations, but also salary increases for the employees in line with the area collective agreement.
Galeria general works council chairman Jürgen Ettl said that the step had no immediate impact. However, the actually intended gradual approximation of wages and salaries to the collective bargaining level will be disturbed for the time being.