Workers at Dr Oetker in Germany have started a warning strike amid union demands for higher pay from the multinational group.
According to the NGG union, more than 200 employees have today (24 June) embarked on a “warning strike” at Dr Oetker’s corporate headquarters in Bielefeld and a plant in Oerlinghausen. The action is expected to last nine hours in total.
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The NGG union is demanding a €280 ($325) increase in wages the employees and has accused Dr Oetker’s management of putting staff wages in “deep-freeze mode” and placing negotiations on hold.
A spokesperson for Dr. Oetker said: “Dr. Oetker is happy to discuss its position in exchange with the collective bargaining committee and the NGG trade union.
“However, this requires the willingness of both sides to start the talks in a solution-oriented manner.”
The spokesperson added NGG’ at the Dr. Oetker locations’s demand “does not constitute a basis for constructive collective bargaining. Nevertheless, Dr. Oetker is striving for an appropriate agreement”.
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By GlobalDataDr. Oetker’s management and NGG union are set to meet on 2 July for a second round of wage negotiations.
NGG negotiator Mohamed Boudih said: “Oetker has not submitted a single offer. The company is thus switching to deep-freeze mode: it is putting wages on hold.”
Boudih claimed it took “weeks for the management to even move to the negotiating table,” and now the “billion-dollar company is playing poker with the idea of freezing wages”.
“If Oetker refuses to talk constructively about wage developments in the company in the second round of negotiations, then NGG will increase the pressure on the group headquarters with the employees,” Boudhi said. “Further and more massive warning strikes will follow.”
