Verdi boss Frank Werneke. Bernd Kammerer, dpa
The Verdi works council made serious accusations against the bosses of the second largest union in Germany in an internal communication shortly before the elections for the federal executive board on Sunday. We have the notification. The works council writes that Verdi employees are treated like “second-class union members” and cannot rely on receiving the benefits they are entitled to from the union. Collective bargaining at Verdi would be made massively more difficult, and legal protection for employees would be rejected every fourth time. In an internal reply, the Verdi bosses rejected the criticism of the employee representatives and made accusations of their own. This is also available to us.
For the bosses of the second largest union in Germany, what is probably the most important date of the year begins on Sunday. Verdi delegates from all over Germany meet at the federal congress and elect a new federal executive board, which, with one exception, will most likely remain the old federal executive board. Stefanie Nutzberger, who was previously primarily responsible for the trade department, is not running for re-election – but the rest of the federal executive board is. Insiders unanimously report that no surprises are expected in the election.
A few days before the election, Verdi’s general works council sent an internal communication to the union’s employees and made serious allegations against the Verdi management. The core accusation: The employees are treated like “second-class union members”.
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Specifically, the employee representatives write that Verdi employees rarely and if ever only receive legal protection under difficult conditions if they have a dispute with their employer, Verdi. 20 to 25 percent of applications have been rejected in the past few months. The works council complains that applications from Verdi employees are examined much more strictly than ordinary members of the union. The general works council believes that Verdi’s dual role as employer and responsible employee union no longer works. “As full-time union members, we cannot rely on receiving the benefits from ver.di to which we are entitled in accordance with the statutes,” write the employee representatives.
Collective bargaining should be made massively more difficult – within the union of all places
But another accusation from the employee representatives is more serious: collective bargaining within the union would be made massively more difficult. The reason for this is the union council, a kind of supervisory board of Verdi, which controls the work of the federal executive board. This council can overturn any compromise, arbitration or agreement on collective bargaining and salary issues between the federal executive board and the works council with a simple veto.
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The problem: The employees have neither the right to vote nor participate in the committee.
The employee representatives cannot go to extremes in a dispute with the union leadership, because a legal dispute is almost impossible for Verdi employees. “Although we all work for a union, we do not have a union represented in the company and therefore no organization to which we can collectively turn to assert our interests, e.g. B. can turn in the context of an industrial dispute. In short: There is no union that could call us to strike.”
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There is therefore a significant power imbalance between Verdi’s management and the employees. Strikes are excluded, co-determination is undermined by a committee in which the works council is excluded. The conditions at the union described by the works council would otherwise be a typical reason for Verdi to publicly attack them – if they prevailed in a company.
Verdi bosses reject criticism
In an internal reply on Friday, Verdi’s human resources manager rejected the works council’s allegations. We also have the letter. In it, they argue that Verdi employees do receive legal representation and are even granted reimbursement of costs in labor law proceedings. The general rejection rate has been eleven percent over the past four years, writes the Federal Executive Board. The Federal Executive Board does not address the increase in the rejection rate to 20 to 25 percent in recent months.
The human resources manager also rejects criticism of collective bargaining. In the past, employers and the general works council negotiated the working conditions of employees in such a way that arbitration and mediation procedures did not have to be used.
HR manager launches a counterattack
At the very end of the reply, the human resources manager finally makes allegations against the works council. He would have refused to accept central working conditions such as working time accounts, working time recording and, finally, pay as negotiation topics, citing a lack of responsibility. “It took a wave of indignation from several companies before the GBR showed a willingness to negotiate the pay conditions and has now also agreed to negotiation dates,” writes the human resources manager.