Collective bargaining round in retail 2026: Act together. For better rates!

dossier

“Collective bargaining round started in retail: ver.di is calling for noticeable wage increases above inflation, more full-time positions and stronger collective bargaining. A crucial pay round will begin in April 2026 for around 5.2 million employees in retail, mail order, wholesale and foreign trade…”ver.di special page with news about the collective bargaining round in retail in 2026 also from the countries with different demands, usually 7 percent more wages, at least 225 euros... Just see the nationwide activities here:

• Collective bargaining agreement in NRW retail with 2-stage wage increases (2 and 3%), from May 1, 2027 at least 1 euro above the statutory minimum wage and a term of 25 months
  • “If you don’t have the strength…” express union editorial team on agreement in retail
    “…Unfortunately, contrary to what the press release on the collective agreement suggests, only some of the employees are guaranteed to receive more money retroactively to August 1st. Because only around a third of all retail employees in North Rhine-Westphalia are directly bound by collective agreements and therefore have a legal right to the tariff increase. Two thirds of all employees in NRW retail work in companies that are not bound by collective agreements and can only hope that their wages and salaries will also increase - especially if companies have to fear that their staff will otherwise leave. (…)
    When evaluating the result, it must be taken into account that due to ver.di's low nationwide assertiveness in retail, the real escalation options were limited. At the end of the last collective bargaining round in 2024, express expressed the hope that ver.di would succeed in adapting its assertiveness to the level of its undoubtedly more than justified demands. However, this has not been achieved in the past two years. The progressive erosion of union strength through further spin-offs of collectively agreed branches of large chains such as Edeka and Rewe into owner-managed trading companies that are not bound by collective bargaining agreements and which often no longer have works councils is continuing. Nationwide, collective bargaining coverage was in the retail sectorby 2024 it will only be at just under a quarter.3 Ver.di's local presence in the industry is showing increasingly large gaps. Things remain extremely difficult in retail.
    Many employees are still willing and able to strike, numerous employees are committed - but overall there are too few. No one knows this better than the retail association, whose members notice directly that ver.di rarely manages to strike at branches to such an extent that nothing can actually be sold, and that strikes almost never occur in large parts of the industry. The strike on central warehouses in the wholesale collective bargaining rounds that are being negotiated at the same time works for a limited period of time and selectively; it is not enough to effectively interrupt the supply chains in retail. The public - this is also part of reality - hardly notices anything about the collective bargaining disputes…”Comment in express 9/2026 
  • Collective bargaining agreement for around 700,000 employees in NRW retail – agreement after five rounds of negotiations
    “After five rounds of negotiations, the United Services Union (ver.di in North Rhine-Westphalia) and the employers' side agreed on a collective agreement for the approximately 700,000 retail employees in North Rhine-Westphalia this Wednesday (August 26, 2026). Employees will receive three percent more pay from August 1, 2026 and a further two percent more in May 2027. Training allowances are increasing disproportionately. The collective agreement has a term of 25 months. For employees in the lowest wage groups, a collective minimum hourly wage of 14.20 euros from August 2026 and 14.90 euros from May 2027 will be set…”Press release from August 26, 2026 from ver.di NRW 
  • ver.di breakthrough in retail: Employees reach first collective bargaining agreement in North Rhine-Westphalia after months of disputes with employers
    “The federal board of the United Services Union (ver.di) assesses the agreement in the North Rhine-Westphalian retail sector positively. “We welcome the fact that, following the breakthrough in wholesale and foreign trade, the social partners in retail have now come to a viable solution for the first time after months of hard disputes,” said Silke Zimmer, the ver.di federal board member responsible for trade. The agreement reached provides for a 5 percent increase in collective wages for North Rhine-Westphalia employees: by 3 percent on August 1, 2026 and by 2 percent on May 1, 2027. From May 1, 2027, a minimum hourly wage of 14.90 euros will be reached. The trainee salaries will be increased by the same percentages on September 1, 2026 and 2027 and then rounded up to the full ten euros. The term is 25 months. (…) “I assume that this result is the basis for further agreements in the other fifteen retail tariff areas nationwide,” said Zimmer. “In view of the increased petrol and food prices, it is now urgently necessary that all retail employees quickly have more money in their wallets.”…”Press release from August 27, 2026 at ver.di Bund – but also:
  • No wages below 14.90 euros - retailers in Berlin-Brandenburg are on strike for two days
    “With a two-day strike, employees in the retail and wholesale trade in Berlin-Brandenburg are increasing the pressure on employers to present a negotiated collective bargaining offer. The background is the wage dispute that has been going on for months and the employers' refusal to submit an offer that ensures a collectively agreed income above the statutory minimum wage for all groups of employees. (…) Previous agreements have already shown that employers are blocking the transfer of agreements that have already been made to other collective bargaining areas. In addition, regional characteristics in Berlin and Brandenburg must be taken into account. In particular, it must be ruled out that individual employees fall below the level of 14.90 euros per hour due to an existing exception clause. In addition, collective bargaining in Berlin and Brandenburg begins up to three months later than in the rest of Germany. To ensure that employees in the region are not structurally disadvantaged, the collective agreement needs to be shortened. In Berlin, a reduction of one month was already achieved at the last conclusion. This path must be continued. (…)
    The two-day strike culminates on Friday, August 28th, at Breitscheidplatz with a subsequent demonstration. Media representatives are invited at 11:30 a.m. Some companies are already on strike this Thursday. In the majority of companies, the strike will continue on Saturday without a central event...”Press release from August 27, 2026 from ver.di Berlin-Brandenburg 
• Before the negotiations in retail in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, ver.di is demanding: Anyone who has completed vocational training earns more than just the minimum wage
  “With the end of the school holidays in several federal states, collective bargaining in retail in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia will continue next week. The United Services Union (ver.di) is therefore sending a clear signal of expectation to employers in the retail sector to finally advance collective bargaining with table-effective pay increases for all employee groups and not to remain stuck at the statutory minimum wage for the lower wage groups. “It is incomprehensible that employers in the retail sector have so far refused to agree to a collective agreement with a pensionable minimum hourly wage of 14.90 euros,” said ver.di federal board member Silke Zimmer, responsible for retail. “This is not only disrespectful and without any appreciation - it is unacceptable, as there are already employers in the retail sector who pay hourly wages well above the legal minimum wage, such as Lidl and Aldi,” said Zimmer. (…) “It is a scandal if employees who have completed vocational training as salespeople are not supposed to receive more than the statutory minimum wage in some collective bargaining districts,” says Zimmer. “A successful professional qualification in retail deserves real appreciation,” said the top trade unionist. “Employers are gambling away the future and the attractiveness of the industry if they do not want to give these employees a disproportionate wage increase in the current wage dispute.”…”Press release from August 18, 2026 (“ver.di demands: Anyone who has completed vocational training in retail earns more than just the statutory minimum wage”)
• With Hamburg, the 5th verdi tariff district has taken over the pilot agreement in Bavarian wholesale and foreign trade, so far away from “at least 250 euros per month”
  • Collective bargaining round for wholesale and foreign trade in Hamburg: Collective bargaining agreement reached for 60,000 employees
    “The result of the negotiations is based on the first nationwide agreement in Bavarian wholesale and foreign trade and provides for a wage increase of 2.9 percent from August 1, 2026 and a further increase of 2.1 percent from May 1, 2027. The training allowances will increase by 40 euros from August 1, 2026 and by a further 30 euros from August 1, 2027. The term of the collective agreement is 24 months…”Press release from August 11, 2026 at ver.di Hamburg 
  • Collective bargaining agreement breaks wage floor
    “In Hamburg, the fifth Verdi tariff district has taken over the pilot agreement for wholesale and foreign trade. The result poses some problems for the union
    Shut up, the fifth. After Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg is the next Verdi district in the trade department to have reached a collective agreement in wholesale and foreign trade. As in the previous districts, the agreement reached on Tuesday in the Hanseatic city is the pilot conclusion in Bavaria. “The negotiations were difficult,” explained Heike Lattekamp, ​​the local Verdi negotiator for wholesale and foreign trade. In the end, they “succeeded in reaching an agreement.” The decisive factor for this was the willingness of the employees to “stand up together for their demands,” quoted a statement from the union. “Without the pressure from the companies, this result would not have been possible,” agreed Jan Görbitz from the collective bargaining committee. »Together we have achieved a noticeable improvement.«
    However, it is questionable whether this will really be felt by all colleagues. There isn't much left of the seven percent more pay originally demanded by Verdi, but at least 250 euros per month. The term of the collective agreement will be twice as long as originally required and, at 24 months, corresponds to that of the pilot agreement in Bavaria. The wages and salaries of the approximately 60,000 employees in Hamburg's wholesale sector are also to be increased by 2.9 percent from August. A further increase in wages and salaries of 2.1 percent is to take place from May 1, 2027. According to the regulation, trainees should receive 40 euros more from August, and there will then be an additional 30 euros per month from August 2027, Verdi announced on Tuesday.
    The increase achieved for teaching colleagues also corresponds to almost half of the 150 euros requested by Verdi. In addition, the increase is only slightly above the estimate of 2.8 percent inflation issued by the Federal Statistical Office at the end of July. In view of the expected long-term consequences of the Iran war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, it is currently not foreseeable whether a two percent increase can offset consumer price developments in the coming year. The result for the employees is also zero months – May, June and July. The employees have been left empty-handed for the period of ongoing collective bargaining since the end of April - a circumstance that Verdi rejected as unacceptable during the talks.
    And there is still a problem in the Bavarian pilot conclusion. If this were to be adopted in some tariff areas, wage groups would fall below the legal minimum wage of 14.90 euros from January 2027. In the Berlin-Brandenburg tariff area, there are employees with vocational training in several salary groups who do not receive the minimum hourly salary with the qualification. "In order to be able to offer companies and employees legal certainty as quickly as possible through a valid collective agreement, the L1 wage group for those under 18 years of age was not finally regulated in the present agreement and instead a negotiation obligation was included," the food newspaper quoted the trade association in Baden-Württemberg as saying last week…”Article by David Maiwald in the young world from August 12, 2026 
• Pilot collective agreement in Bavarian wholesale and foreign trade: Employees fight for a collective agreement  
  “On the night of July 21, 2026, there was a breakthrough in the collective bargaining dispute in the fourth round of negotiations for the approximately 240,000 employees of Bavarian wholesale and foreign trade.
  Thanks to the countless strike actions by courageous colleagues, a very good collective agreement was reached, which is the first in nationwide retail. The fees will increase by 2.9% on August 1, 2026 and by a further 2.1% on May 1, 2027. A term of 24 months was agreed.
  "This collective agreement clearly bears the hallmarks of the courageous colleagues in the companies. Without the great courage and determination of the strikers, such a good collective agreement would never have been possible. The strikers have proven once again that collective agreements are decided and fought for on the streets and in the companies and not at the negotiating table. With the collective agreement, the colleagues are finally getting the necessary respect and recognition when it comes to pay. (...)
  The collective agreement result is subject to a declaration period until August 4, 2026“Press release from July 21, 2026 from ver.di Bavarian State District, Department of Commerce – more precisely inTariff information 6/2026 :Courage and determination pay off!
  “After countless strikes and actions in the companies of the Bavarian wholesalerForeign trade achieved a breakthrough in the 4th round of negotiations thanks to the courageous and determined strikers late in the evening of July 21, 2026. The fact that there is now respect and appreciation in terms of pay was only possible because of the incredible determination of the strikers. Specifically, it was agreed in the collective bargaining agreement:
  • From August 1, 2026, fees will increase by 2.9%
  • From May 1, 2027, fees will increase by 2.1%
  • The trainee salaries will increase by €40 on September 1st, 2026 and by €30 on September 1st, 2027
  • The term is 24 months…” And to that:
    • On the collective bargaining agreement in Bavarian trade: loss of real wages classified
      “…Verdi celebrates itself, speaks of a “very good collective bargaining agreement” and a “clear signaling effect,” as Silke Zimmer, who is responsible for trade on the Verdi federal board, put it. In reality, however, the union is once again cementing real wage losses in the industry. The agreed wage increases are below the inflation rate. In June it was 2.3 percent for the entire Federal Republic, and only 2.5 percent in Bavaria. In addition, they are falling far short of the goals that they had set themselves at the start of negotiations in March: They wanted to push through a salary increase of seven percent and a training allowance increase of 150 euros - and that with a term of only one year! If that isn't a gaping gap between expectations and results.
      And you can't even fully trust the significantly worse numbers that have now been announced. Let’s do the math: The old collective agreement expired at the end of April this year. The first agreed increase of 2.9 percent is scheduled to take effect from August - so employees will come away empty-handed for May, June and July. This means that the new collective agreement de facto only contains an increase for nine of the first twelve months of its term - if you apply the months without an increase to the year, this corresponds to an actual wage increase of only 2.175 percent. In the second tariff year, wages are expected to rise by 2.1 percent. As a result, the fees for the 24 months of the term increase by just 4.275 percent! Verdi's official public statements of five percent cannot even be achieved with compound interest!…”Guest commentary by Orhan Akman in the young world from July 24th, 2026 
• Collective bargaining disputes in the retail sector escalate: The retail companies make billions in profits and break off collective bargaining negotiations in 4 federal states - “STRICT becomes mandatory!” (ver.di Bavaria)
  • Tariff dispute in retail escalates
    “In the current collective bargaining round in retail, employers have temporarily suspended negotiations in four federal states. Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Berlin-Brandenburg are affected. The Bavarian Trade Association justified the cancellations by saying that the ver.di federal board had undermined an agreement that had already been reached in Baden-Württemberg. ver.di had already contradicted this in the “Lebensmittelzeitung”.
    Employers see no basis for discussions
    The Bavarian HBE collective bargaining manager Melanie Eykmann criticized the fact that compromises negotiated locally failed due to the Verdi federal executive board. Association spokesman Bernd Ohlmann explained that they currently see no basis for productive negotiations in Bavaria.
    ver.di calls the allegations a scandal
    Verdi rejected the allegations. A spokeswoman said in Berlin that there had been no corresponding decision by the Federal Executive Board. The tariff areas collectively assessed the exploratory status from Baden-Württemberg as insufficient for a conclusion. The Bavarian negotiator Thomas Gürlebeck described the cancellations as a “scandal” and announced that the strikes would be expanded.
    Warning strikes should be expanded
    There have been numerous warning strikes in retail across the country in recent weeks. The Bavarian ver.di regional district announced that it would further expand the work stoppages…”DGB report from July 14, 2026 , see:
  • Employers in the Bavarian retail sector cancel collective bargaining: a general attack on the livelihoods of the employees
    “Employers in Bavarian retail and mail order have canceled the upcoming collective bargaining negotiations on July 20, 2026. This is a desperate action coordinated by employers nationwide. The background is that the employers in the Bavarian retail and mail order trade, together with the employers from the other tariff areas, want to put pressure on the ver.di tariff commissions in order to reach a collective agreement that only reflects the profit interests of the retail groups. Among other things, employers want to pay below the legal minimum wage for the lowest wage groups.
    "What a scandal. The retail companies, which are already among the richest of the rich, supposedly want to put pressure on the ver.di collective bargaining committees and the employees by canceling collective bargaining…”Press release from July 13, 2026 at ver.di Bayern – as an example – and as a role modelver.di Tariff information 5/2026 Retail Bavaria  :
    Employers cancel collective bargaining on July 20, 2026: STRIKE becomes mandatory!
    “The employers in Bavarian retail and mail order have the agreedDate for the next collective bargaining on July 20, 2026 canceled. The background is that employers in Baden-Württemberg made such a poor offer for a collective agreement last week that the ver.di collective bargaining commission could only reject it as completely inadequate. Among other things, employers want to enforce the following with all their might: dramatic real wage losses for 2026 and 2027; For the lower income groups, an hourly wage below the legal minimum wage.
    The richest of the rich in retail want to use the crowbar to enforce poverty for the employees
    The trading companies make billions in profits. The employees are now expected to make even more profits. Anyone who wants to make profits at the expense of employees lacks any moral integrity. We know who we are talking about on the employer side in Bavaria. In Bavaria, representatives of the following companies, among others, canceled collective bargaining: Kaufland, EDEKA, Media-Markt, REWE, Penny, IKEA, Eurotrade (…)There is only one answer for us: we continue to strike! We strike more! The decisive factor for the further course of collective bargaining will be how many people organize themselves in our union and, together with their colleagues, defend themselves against employer behavior…”
  • Strike is mandatory: trade associations break off collective bargaining negotiations with Verdi. The union needs a stronger collective bargaining structure
    “It's a calculated attack. Verdi spoke of a “scandal,” and “Strike becomes compulsory” was the title of a leaflet from the Bavarian state district that was available to Junge Welt on Tuesday. But above all it is a low blow for the union: the trade associations broke off the collective bargaining negotiations in retail that had been going on slowly for months on Monday and do not want to continue planned talks in four districts. Time for a combative response.
    The Bavarian Trade Association said there would be no further negotiations in Bavaria, Berlin-Brandenburg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. The Verdi federal executive board intervened in an interim agreement in Baden-Württemberg last week, so the claim is that there is now "no basis" anymore. Verdi contradicted this to jW on Tuesday. The offer was considered inadequate by the tariff areas. And these would certainly have to coordinate, after all, trade associations would also transmit their financial statements “with periods and commas”.
    This is logical, because retail is dominated by a few, huge corporations. The fact that they can now withdraw on such grounds shows how fragile the tariff structure with which the Verdi trade department has been operating for many years now is. With a total of 16 individual areas and 20 wholesale collective bargaining areas, plus individual company contracts, the union works with different terms, meaning different peace obligations.
    So she can only develop a little assertiveness. (…)
    The “40 percent cap on non-wage labor costs” called for by the HDE would mean burdening employees with more social security costs? “Not necessarily,” was the answer, “you could also reduce the costs of social insurance.” But doesn't that reduce care and prevention? "This is not our business, as a trade association we represent the interests of our members." Shorten and let shorten: The "social partner" is an unscrupulous opponent…”Article by David Maiwald in the Junge Welt from July 15, 2026 
  • In theNews about the 2026 collective bargaining round in retail Nothing about it from ver.di yet…
• In the trade collective bargaining round, ver.di is once again calling for warning strikes nationwide on Thursday, June 25th - this time with a focus on Kaufland (Schwarz Group)
  “The United Services Union (ver.di) is once again calling on thousands of employees to go on warning strikes in the collective bargaining round for retail on Thursday (June 25, 2026) - the focus is, among other things, on branches of the Kaufland retail group, which belongs to the Schwarz Group. "Dieter Schwarz is by far the richest person in Germany. His employees have earned his billion-dollar fortune through their hard work - but their own wages often do not last until the end of the month," said ver.di federal board member Silke Zimmer, responsible for trading. “In this company, the disproportion between high profits and low wages is particularly clear: In our view, it is incomprehensible why Kaufland does not share in its success with fair pay increases.” (…)
  Kaufland representatives sit at the negotiating tables in many districts of the country. “Kaufland therefore has a lot of weight in the employers’ commissions and is partly responsible for the employers’ previous unacceptable offer of zero months and real wage losses,” said Zimmer. In 2024 alone, Dieter Schwarz was able to increase his assets by around 4.2 billion euros - a sum that is more than twice as high as the total personnel costs at Kaufland in Germany, for more than 90,000 employees.
  The next negotiation dates are scheduled for Friday (June 26, 2026): for retail in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia as well as for wholesale and foreign trade in Baden-Württemberg.”ver.di press release from June 24, 2026 (“ver.di warning strikes in retail: Thousands of Kaufland employees will go on strike nationwide on Thursday”)
• In the trade collective bargaining round, ver.di is once again calling for warning strikes nationwide on Friday, June 19th - with a focus on Ikea - and in Berlin they will once again be singing with Bernadette La Hengst!
  • New warning strikes in retail: Ikea employees in numerous branches stopped work on Friday
    “In the collective bargaining round for retail, the United Services Union (ver.di) is once again calling on employees nationwide to go on warning strikes on Friday (June 19, 2026). The focus is on the Ikea company: employees in more than half of the Ikea furniture stores in Germany will go into industrial action. “Billions of dollars in sales are made every day in retail, but almost none of it reaches the employees – especially at Ikea,” said ver.di federal board member Silke Zimmer, responsible for retail, on Thursday. “Therefore, together with our colleagues from retail, wholesale and foreign trade, we are once again significantly increasing the pressure for fair wage increases.”
    The Ikea furniture store is doing very well economically, explained the trade unionist. In 2024, 6.1 billion in total sales in Germany alone marked the second strongest year (after 2023) since the company was founded. “Anyone who is so strongly positioned can also finance appropriate wage increases,” said Zimmer. Instead, Ikea is planning a workforce reduction - which is met with great incomprehension among employees: operational layoffs will take place for the first time in 2026. In the Rostock customer service center, 280 colleagues lose their jobs. Ikea is also closing the IT department in Dortmund in order to outsource it. There are also plans to cut jobs at the headquarters in Wallau. “The way the company treats its employees hardly shows any social responsibility,” said trade unionist Zimmer. Instead of paying fair wages, radical austerity measures are being pursued despite record sales. Ikea plays an influential role on the employer side as part of the collective bargaining round, explained Zimmer. The company is involved in employer commissions and conducts negotiations in Saarland. “Ikea is therefore jointly responsible for the fact that our collective bargaining committees have been presented with the same outrageous employer offer with zero months and a loss of real wages since May,” criticized the trade unionist. Apparently the employers wanted a quick conclusion - but the Ikea negotiator in Saarland had just canceled an appointment that had already been agreed. Silke Zimmer: "We're obviously playing for time here. We won't accept that."…”ver.di press release from June 18, 2026 
  • June 19th Prices are exploding, wages are stagnating. Employees in retail are defending themselves against having to reach into their wallets
    “ver.di is calling for warning strikes in Berlin's retail and wholesale trade in Berlin-Brandenburg on June 19th - a rally with a musical protest at Wittenbergplatz.
    Berlin retail workers are on strike again to get a negotiable offer on the table on June 23rd. There are currently offers from retail groups such as Edeka, Kaufland and Rewe for retail and wholesale, which mean a significant loss of purchasing power for employees. That is why ver.di is calling on the employees of the Berlin retail and wholesale trade in Berlin and Brandenburg to go on a two-day warning strike on Friday, June 19, 2026. The wholesale trade has been on strike since June 18th.Since the peace obligation in Brandenburg's retail sector does not end until June 30, 2026, only wholesale employees are called on to strike. The highlight of the strike day is a central rally at 11:00 a.m. at Wittenbergplatz in Berlin. There the strikers perform the song “Dance your Demands”, which the artist developed together with the strikers, together with the Berlin songwriter Bernadette La Hengst…”Press release from June 18, 2026 Berlin-Brandenbur regional districtG– but it was also sung on June 5th, 2026…
  • See the dossier for Ikea:Ikea goes after Amazon – colleagues in Germany fear for jobs and data protection and want the “collective agreement for the future”
• ver.di is expanding strikes in retail: renewed nationwide strikes in retail as well as wholesale and foreign trade on Thursday, June 4th and Friday, June 5th
  “This week, the United Services Union (ver.di) is once again calling for nationwide strikes in retail, wholesale and foreign trade. Companies and companies in the entire retail sector in all federal states will be affected on Thursday and Friday. Thousands of participants are expected: In addition to numerous decentralized actions and industrial action, large strike rallies are taking place in Kiel, Erfurt, Berlin, Bochum and Saarbrücken. ver.di board member Silke Zimmer, responsible for retail, will speak to the strikers in Kiel on Thursday, June 4, 2026 - and in Erfurt on Friday, June 5, 2026. (…)
  The union is calling for a wage increase of seven percent, but at least 225 euros more per month, for a period of twelve months, with different emphasis in the 16 collective bargaining areas in retail and the 20 collective bargaining areas in wholesale and foreign trade. The employers in wholesale and foreign trade proposed a wage increase of a total of 3.4 percent starting from the month after the collective agreement was concluded, but with a term that was twice as long - which halved the increase. In the retail sector, the employer's offer only provides for a pay increase of two percent after six months without any increase (in fact only one percent in the first year), then again after another three months without any increase of 1.5 percent, also with a term of 24 months…”Press release from June 3, 2026 
• ver.di warning strike in retail: Over 5,000 employees take part nationwide
  “Today, Friday, May 15, 2026, more than 5,000 retail employees followed the first warning strike call in the collective bargaining dispute between the United Services Union (ver.di) and employers in retail and took part in central strike rallies in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Dortmund. (…) There were strikes in Berlin-Brandenburg, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Hamburg with central rallies in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Dortmund. Over 200 businesses were on strike, including branches of Edeka, REWE, KAUFLAND, Marktkauf, Penny, Douglas, Primark, Zara, H&M, Metro, IKEA.”Press release from May 15, 2026 
• Trade collective bargaining round: Employers make a poisonous offer – ver.di starts the first nationwide strikes in retail on May 15th
  “For weeks there were no offers from the employers' associations in the first rounds of negotiations for retail, wholesale and foreign trade. They have now presented their first offers for retail in Hamburg and, as of today, also in North Rhine-Westphalia. Silke Zimmer, ver.di federal board member, responsible for retail: "These are poisonous offers that the employers are currently making to us: 3.5 percent for a term of 24 months! That doesn't even compensate for inflation and doesn't help with the acute price increases! We won't accept this outrageousness. That's why employees nationwide are taking action on Friday and are going on strike at the first companies," Zimmer announced. Strike rallies are taking place in Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Dortmund. Silke Zimmer speaks to the strikers in the Ruhr area city.
  ver.di firmly rejects the offer of the German Trade Association (HDE) for the retail tariff areas in Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition to a long term, these offer a six-month zero payment and a wage increase of just 2 percent from November 1, 2026 and a second increase of 1.5 percent from August 1, 2027. “First a long round of zero and then a low offer – that means a wage increase of de facto one percent for employees and thus a further loss of real wages…”Press release from May 13, 2026 

Last see the dossier:Trade tariff movement 2023: “No business without us!”

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