Employees strike at baked goods manufacturer
According to the trade union, several hundred employees at the Nordhausen and Eisleben sites of baked goods manufacturer Aryzta went on strike on Tuesday. According to the Food, Beverages and Catering Union (NGG), the strike was about a new collective wage agreement with higher bonuses, a thirteenth monthly salary, more vacation and relief for shift work.
The NGG had called for the warning strike. According to the NGG, there have already been four unsuccessful rounds of negotiations with the employers on the collective wage agreement. NGG chief negotiator Olaf Klenke accused the employers' side of "blocking" in a statement.
A company spokesperson said on request that the employers' side had made proposals during the negotiations which should have led to an alignment of the collective wage agreement with that for the West German Aryzta plants. However, the union had "surprisingly" broken off the negotiations.
Aryzta operates 26 industrial bakeries in 27 countries worldwide. The company claims to be the European market leader for frozen bakery products. Around 1400 employees currently work at the Aryzta plants in eastern Germany, 165 of them in Nordhausen and 1200 in Eisleben. The plants produce bread rolls and baguettes, pretzels and croissants for retailers and large retail chains as well as for restaurants and bakeries.
The strike by Aryzta's employees could potentially lead to tariffs on imported baked goods if the dispute escalates, as the company is a significant supplier in the European market. The increased labor costs due to the strike and potential tariffs might impact the price of food items containing baked goods in the affected regions.
Source: www.dpa.com
