Telekom Completes Negotiations with Service Industry Union ver.di

The negotiation commissions of Deutsche Telekom and the service industry union ver.di agreed on a result in the early hours of May 12.

The agreement applies to around 55,000 employees covered by collective agreements, apprentices, and dual students employed at the Group Headquarters, Telekom Deutschland, and Deutsche Telekom IT in Germany.

Deutsche Telekom also stated that it will continue training at a high level. The number of planned hires for apprentices and dual students will be increased.

Lead negotiator for Deutsche Telekom was Sigrid Heudorf, Senior Vice President HR Management at Deutsche Telekom. She is happy with the result: “It is a viable agreement for both parties. The two-year term gives everybody security in terms of planning. Not only that, we will alleviate the impacts of increased inflations, especially for employees in the lower and middle pay groups. Taking the required investments in 5G and fiber-optic networks, this is also an agreement that ensures we remain competitive.”

The salaries of employees covered by collective agreements will rise in two stages. The first rise will take place on August 1, 2022 and the second one on June 1, 2023. A distinction will be made between three employee groups (pay groups “EG”):

EG 1-5: Pay rise of 3.1 percent on August 1, 2022 and a further 2.1 percent on June 1, 2023

EG 6: Pay rise of 2.9 percent on August 1, 2022 and a further 2.1 percent on June 1, 2023

EG 7-10: Pay rise of 2.7 percent on August 1, 2022 and a further 2.1 percent on June 1, 2023

Consequently, salaries will increase between 4.8 and 5.2 percent depending on the pay group. In light of inflation, the lower pay groups will receive a higher rise.

A one-off payment is also intended to alleviate the impacts of inflation. Therefore, employees in pay groups 1-6 will receive two payments of 500 euros: one in July 2022 and one in February 2023.

Apprentices and dual students will also receive more money. They will receive a pay rise of around 3.1 percent on August 1, 2022 and a monthly increase of 35 euros starting June 1, 2023. An agreement was also reached for apprentices and dual students to receive two payments of 100 euros: one in July 2022 and one in February 2023.

Protection against compulsory redundancy is extended until December 31, 2024. This extension does not apply to the Deutsche Telekom’s internal IT unit (Deutsche Telekom IT). Further negotiations regarding weekly working hours and protection against compulsory redundancy will soon take place for this unit.

The agreement is still subject to the approval from ver.di's collective bargaining committee.