Trade union, Deutsche Post sign collective agreement for First Mail - report.

(ADPnews) - May 24, 2010 - German trade union Verdi and postal group Deutsche Post AG (ETR:DPW) have closed a collective contract for the young employees at First Mail, the Duesseldorf-based low-cost subsidiary of Deutsche Post, daily Die Welt reported, citing Verdi sources.

Andrea Kocsis, deputy head of Verdi and active staff representative at Deutsche Post, told Die Welt the results of the collective bargaining were good for the union and the employees.

According to the newspaper, the issue of First Mail is interesting currently due to Deutsche Post plans to make a strong entry in the market for low-cost letter delivery through that subsidiary. Thus the number of apprentices will be expanded to 1,000 from 15 within two years -- a total of 300 new trainees will be hired in 2010 and another 690 will follow in 2011.

The move will enable Deutsche Post to create a second letter delivery service in addition to its existing one, but wages in the newly-created business will be lower than in the current one.

The union and the postal group set conditions for the trainees at First Mail, according to which the new staff will work a 38.5-hour week and will have separate rules for work on Saturdays. However, the trainees' salaries will be 12% lower than those of Deutsche Post regular employees. Trainees will receive a monthly salary of EUR 590 (USD 731) in their first year at the company.

Deutsche Post will take care of the whole training of the new staff itself. In 2011, around half of the training programmes at Deutsche Post will be conducted under the conditions agreed at First Mail.

A Deutsche Post spokesman confirmed the information about a planned expansion of First Mail to Die Welt, but said the expansion will be limited only to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

According to the daily, First Mail last opened new sites in the cities of Essen, Duisburg, Dortmund and Hagen. In the coming months around 500 postmen will deliver letters for First Mail. They will receive an hourly pay of EUR 9.80, which is exactly the minimum wage currently effective for all postmen at the Deutsche Post group.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.239)