After months of what both sides called "complicated and difficult" negotiations, employers and the services union Verdi in North Rhine-Westphalia have reached the first collective pay settlement in Germany's retail sector. The two sides announced the agreement late on Wednesday evening. The German Retail Federation (HDE) described it as a "breakthrough". The settlement is expected to have a signal effect for the remaining collective bargaining regions in retail.
According to the information provided, the wages and salaries of around 700,000 retail employees in North Rhine-Westphalia are to rise by 3.0 percent backdated to 1 August, with a further increase of 2.0 percent from 1 May 2027. The collective agreement has been given a term of 25 months.
Henrike Eickholdt, Verdi's chief negotiator for the retail sector in North Rhine-Westphalia, said the settlement delivers "noticeable pay increases". This had been possible, she explained, because employees had made clear through their warning strikes that they were prepared to fight for their demands.
The bargaining round for around 5.2 million employees in retail, mail-order, wholesale and foreign trade began in April. In the retail sector, wages and salaries are negotiated across 16 separate bargaining regions. Verdi had demanded an increase of 7.0 percent, but at least 222 to 225 euros, over a term of twelve months. Employees repeatedly staged warning strikes in support of the claim. The agreement in North Rhine-Westphalia was reached in the fifth round of negotiations.
Steven Haarke, the HDE's managing director for collective bargaining, called the settlement a "painful compromise" that pushes many retail companies to the "absolute limit of what is still economically bearable". At the same time, he said, the agreement creates "planning security and orientation".
"Employers and the union in the retail sector are thereby sending an important signal in North Rhine-Westphalia at a very difficult time," Haarke emphasised. Collective bargaining partnership and the ability to compromise are currently "perhaps more important than ever", he said.
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