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Staff at struggling German retail giant agree to tighten belts
Released on - Saturday,07 November , 2009 -23:02 42
Employees of the embattled German department store chain Karstadt, owned by the insolvent retail group Arcandor, agreed Saturday to take salary cuts as part of a last-ditch effort to save their jobs.
Staff representatives and Arcandor's judicial administrator agreed on cost cuts of 150 million euros over three years.
Staff at the loss-making stores notably agreed to give up bonus holidays and 75 percent of their Christmas bonus, said Cornelia Hass, a spokeswoman for the services trade union Verdi.
The cost-cutting plan is to be examined by Arcandor's creditors during a meeting in Essen on Monday and Tuesday.
Verdi has said 17 out of Karstadt's 126 stores remain threatened with closure. The judicial administrator has already declared Arcandor's mail-order subsidiary Quelle bankrupt.
Arcandor filed for bankruptcy protection in June.