Published: 14/06/2011

A 3-hour warning strike on April 27 helped to secure a wage agreement between the German foodworkers union NGG and Kraft Foods management.

After management at the Berlin Jacobs coffee factory withdrew from a provisional result reached at the previous round of negotiations, 90 employees stopped their roasters at noon in quite a good mood. But since Kraft Foods management still made no new offers, the unionists armed themselves with whistles and rattles to make sure that their demand for higher wages was clearly heard in front of the conference room where the negotiations were being held. This broke the stalemate.

Under the new 2-year settlement – finally signed on May 18 – all monthly wages at the Jacobs factory will be increased by 85 euros from May 1st, 2011, with an additional 80 euros per month from May 1, 2012.