German union announces strikes at fast-food chains

The German food and catering union NGG has announced strike action in the run-up to Christmas at what the industry calls system catering outlets, which includes fast-food chains.

It had previously broken off the collective bargaining negotiations for the approximately 120,000 employees in fast-food chains and other system catering providers across Germany on the first day of the fourth round of talks.

System catering outlets include traditional restaurants, self-service restaurants, cafés, bistros, fast food outlets, pubs and bars, where what they offer is developed uniformly from a central location and transferred to several individual businesses.

In the northern German city of Hamburg, Mark Baumeister from the NGG cited a lack of movement on the employers' side as the reason for the breakdown in negotiations.

Among the companies represented by the employers' association BdS are McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and ECP/Areas, which operates the catering business at Center Parcs.

The union is demanding a starting hourly wage of €15 ($15.73), €500 more per month for employees in pay scale groups two and above, and a one-off payment of €500 for NGG members.

In addition, the training allowance is to be increased to €1,150 in the first year of training, €1,250 in the second year and €1,350 in the third year.

BdS had increased its original "meagre offer, which was around €13 per hour in the lower three wage groups, by a whole 5 cents," said Baumeister. In addition, he said the proposed term of 42 months and an initial increase from January 1 are unacceptable.

"The employees at McDonald's and other companies expect real relief and significantly more," he said. "We are disappointed, and our next actions will be correspondingly loud."