“Outrageous plans” – the anger is great: warning strikes at Benkos Galeria

by time news

A rigorous restructuring plan is intended to bring the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department store chain, which has gotten into financial difficulties, back into the black. After all, 47 branches are now to be closed across Germany – the Verdi union has therefore called for warning strikes against the “outrageous plans” in some of the houses. However, the management has no understanding for this.

The anger and disappointment are immense, emphasized Hamburg Verdi chairwoman Heike Lattekamp to the German media. “The workforce has been investing money in the restructuring of the company for many years and foregoes up to 5,500 euros every year,” she criticizes that a return to the collective agreement was vehemently ruled out until recently. “Our response to these outrageous plans are the first regional warning strikes “, Lattekamp continued. A total of 19 department stores – which is owned by the Signa Holding of the Tyrolean real estate juggler René Benko – actually took part in the all-day warning strike on Saturday. For customers in Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse, however, little changed – the shops remained open. Management fears “ruinous damage” “All branches are open, and it will remain so,” said a company spokesman in Essen. As the “Business Insider” reported, there was also a statement from the management to the unionists: “The planned strike measures are obviously illegal and threaten to cause ruinous damage for which they would be held liable,” said CEO Miguel Müllenbach and the chief representative Arndt Geiwitz quotes. The company is still in insolvency proceedings and an “existential crisis situation”. And further: “In such a situation, the company is targeted to inflict massive economic damage by having branches on strike on one of the key shopping days of the year and forcing them to close, blatantly thwarts the goal of the insolvency plan.” 4000 employees lose their jobs The restructuring plan of the ailing department store chain has it all. Despite high state aid in recent years, 47 of the 129 branches have to be closed – 4,000 employees are affected. However, the restructuring plan itself is not the problem for Verdi – rather it is the deadlocked collective bargaining for the around 17,000 employees that is causing the trade unionists to go on the rampage. In view of the massive price increases in the past year, this is probably an existential point for many of the employees.

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