Delivery service strikes may prevent Christmas packages from reaching those in Bavaria unless employers reach a pay agreement with ver.di.
Between 500 and 1.000 employees represented by ver.di and working at the delivery companies FedEx, DPD, UPS, and Hermes have begun strike action after a third round of collective bargaining negotiations faltered.
While employers offered a 6 percent wage increase in two stages over 25 months plus a one-off payment of 750 euros, ver.di rejected the offer citing the extra work employees are taking on due to the worker shortage and existing low wages.
Deutsche Post services are not affected by strikes since employees at the company are covered by a separate collective bargaining agreement.
Ver.di has warned that strikes may disrupt Christmas package delivery until a few days before Christmas unless employers offer substantially more.
While employees at some delivery companies have only scheduled 24-hour strikes over the coming days, widespread disruption could persist until December 23 unless an agreement is met.
So far, no date has been set for negotiations to continue in Munich.
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