Germany - Retail agreements in all states - September 30, 2026

After months of warning strikes, ver.di union has reached collective agreements in retail in all states. The breakthrough came on 26 August with a pilot agreement for around 700,000 retail workers in North Rhine-Westphalia. Other regions followed in September, including Rhineland-Palatinate on 8 September and Bavaria on 14 September. Wages and salaries rise by 3% retroactively from 1 August 2026, with a further 2% from May 2027. For the lowest pay grades, a minimum collectively agreed hourly wage of € 14.20 applies from August 2026, rising to € 14.60 in January 2027 and € 14.90 from May 2027. Ver.di had originally demanded a 7% increase over 12 months for the roughly 5.2 million workers in retail and wholesale. Employers had first offered six months without any increase, then 2% and 1.5% over 24 months.

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