JM News UK

Workers at Deutsche Post (DPWGn.DE) will expand strike action on Friday to a nationwide walkout to protest against the German group's plans to grow its parcel delivery business by using employees on lower pay deals, labour union Verdi said. Like other former postal service monopolies in Europe, such as Britain's Royal Mail (RMG.L), Deutsche Post's traditional letter business is shrinking while deliveries of parcels are rising due to online retailing. It announced plans in January to create 10,000 new jobs at its parcel business by 2020, but said new workers would have to accept lower wages than other group employees as it and its DHL express division try to compete with the likes of UPS (UPS.N) and TNT (TNTE.AS). Verdi has said such a move would breach an agreement limiting how much business Deutsche Post can outsource and said it would only accept it if the company shortened the hours of about 140,000 workers to 36 per week from 38.5.