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Coke staff strike over bottled up frustration

Coca Cola employees across Germany walked off the job on Monday to kick off a series of warning strikes which will hit more than 50 company premises across the country over the next days in a conflict over wages and working times.

Published: 21 January 2013 12:38 CET
Coke staff strike over bottled up frustration
Photo: DPA

On Monday morning workers stopped work for several hours at Coca Cola premises in Traunreut and Memmingen in Bavaria and in Gomaringen near Tübingen in south west Germany, with further action planned at more than 50 locations in the next days.

Striking workers are demanding a wage rise of six percent over the next year in the face of Coca Cola’s threatened job cuts and the introduction of flexible working hours which will include obligatory weekend shifts.

The strikes have been called by the Beverages and Catering Industry Trade Union (NGG), which disputes the threatened staff reductions and points to the drinks giant’s good overall financial performance in the past year.

“The NGG is demanding wages and salaries are raised by six percent this year. The management wants – despite good business performance – to make working times more flexible and is even threatening staff reductions,” said the union in a statement.

Female employees are particularly in danger of being laid off at the Gomaringen plant where workers went on strike on Monday, NGG head Karin Brugger told Tagblatt regional daily.

Coca Cola employs 10,600 workers in Germany in over 50 premises, all of which are threatening to participate in the warning strikes.

The NGG and Coca Cola are due to enter their third round of negotiations at the end of January, with media reports suggesting the company could offer staggered wage rises of two percent in the first year and two and a half percent in the second year – along with pensions raise and training grants.

However, the union is not satisfied with the offer, demanding higher and faster wage rises and an end to suggestions of flexible working times and staff cuts.

“There has to be a significant shift from the employer’s side otherwise they’ll be in for a very hot spring,” Karin Brugger told the paper. The warning strikes suggest NGG is planning to raise the pressure step by step.

“Employees have gone without a wage rise for years,” she added. “So the staff have already contributed their bit to the good company performance.”

DPA/The Local/jlb

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WORKING IN GERMANY

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Bavaria is no doubt a beautiful state with a strong economy, but can be a hard place for non-German speakers to integrate. The Local takes a look at job opportunities in Germany’s southeastern 'Free State.'

Published: 7 February 2024 10:54 CET
Updated: 10 February 2024 08:20 CET
Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions. 

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds. 

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local. 

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with. 

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