The trade union Verdi is continuing to exert pressure in the wage dispute with Deutsche Post and is underlining its demand for a 15 percent wage increase with new strikes.

The protests have started as planned and participation is good, a Verdi spokeswoman said on Friday. Verdi had called for all-day strikes by employees in selected companies in parcel and letter centers as well as in parcel, letter and group delivery throughout Germany. "The strikes are a clear signal from our members to the employers," emphasized Verdi's head of negotiations Andrea Kocsis.

In view of high inflation, Verdi is demanding a 15 percent wage increase for the approximately 160,000 employees covered by collective agreements in Germany for a period of twelve months. The postal service had already rejected the salary demand several times as unrealistic. The company had announced that it would put an offer on the table in the third round of negotiations on February 8 and 9.

(Report by Matthias Inverardi, edited by Myria Mildenberger. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)