ESSEN, Germany, Nov 7 (Reuters) - The 28,000 employees at German department store chain Karstadt initially agreed to a plan to reduce wage costs by about 150 million euros ($223.1 million) over three years to prevent a breakup of the company.
On Saturday, German trade union Verdi said it reached a deal with the administrator of Karstadt, a unit of insolvent retailer Arcandor, that should be formally approved this coming Monday.
Although the administrator, Rolf Weidmann, said he saw a good chance for Karstadt as a whole to survive now that staff made this key contribution to cost reduction, Verdi deputy union leader Margaret Moenig-Raane said 17 of Karstadt's 126 department and athletic wear chain stores were still threatened.
(Reporting by Nikola Rotscheroth; editing by Chris Pizzey) Keywords: KARSTADT/ (christiaan.hetzner@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: christiaan.hetzner.reuters.com@reuters.net; +49 69 7565 1249) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
On Saturday, German trade union Verdi said it reached a deal with the administrator of Karstadt, a unit of insolvent retailer Arcandor, that should be formally approved this coming Monday.
Although the administrator, Rolf Weidmann, said he saw a good chance for Karstadt as a whole to survive now that staff made this key contribution to cost reduction, Verdi deputy union leader Margaret Moenig-Raane said 17 of Karstadt's 126 department and athletic wear chain stores were still threatened.
(Reporting by Nikola Rotscheroth; editing by Chris Pizzey) Keywords: KARSTADT/ (christiaan.hetzner@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: christiaan.hetzner.reuters.com@reuters.net; +49 69 7565 1249) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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