German trade union Verdi has called on workers at furniture maker IKEA and the wholesaler Metro to strike on Friday as part of a long-running wage dispute in the retail sector.
Rallies are planned throughout Germany in city centres or at the affected retailers – including in Hamburg, Berlin, Erfurt, Kassel, Nuremberg and Bremen.
“Both companies wield a lot of influence in the employers’ collective bargaining committees and are not using this to push negotiations towards an agreement,” said Verdi national executive Silke Zimmer on Thursday.
IKEA shrugged off the threat, saying it is not expecting any major effects as a result of the one-day strike beyond the possibility of longer lines at checkouts. A spokeswoman said operations had only been minimally impacted during similar labour action in recent months.
The wage negotiations for approximately 5 million employees in the retail sector have made little progress for months. Previous strikes and top-level talks at the federal level have been unable to break the deadlock.
The union is calling for a nationwide wage increase of at least €2.50 ($2.70) per hour, plus other demands at the state level.
The employers had recently offered a total pay rise of 10.24% over two years, an inflation compensation premium of €750 and a collectively agreed minimum wage.
At the beginning of March, some retail companies, including IKEA, announced that they would unilaterally increase the wages of their employees.
In doing so, they followed a recommendation from the German Retail Federation to voluntarily hike wages before an official collective bargaining agreement was struck. Verdi sharply criticized the approach.