(Verdi (stylized as ver.di; [ˈvɛʁdiː]); English: United Services Trade Union) is a German trade union based in Berlin, Germany. It was established on 19 March 2001 as the result of a merger of five individual unions and is a member of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). With around 1.9 million members, Verdi is the second largest German trade union after IG Metall. It currently employs around 3000 members of staff in Germany and has an annual income of approximately 454 million Euros obtained from membership subscriptions.Die Welt vom 19. Januar 2016. The trade union is divided into 10 federal state districts and five divisions and is managed by a National Executive Board (Bundesvorstand) with nine members. Frank Bsirske was the chairman of Verdi from its founding in 2001 until September 2019, when was elected.
Establishment Verdi was established in March 2001 as the result of a merger of five individual unions, all of which, other than the DAG, had previously belonged to the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB):
German Salaried Employees' Union (DAG) German Postal Union (DPG) Trade, Banking and Insurance Union (HBV) Media Union (IG Medien) Public Services, Transport and Traffic Union (ÖTV)
The oldest forerunner of Verdi was the Association of German Printers (Verband der Deutschen Buchdrucker), which was founded in 1866.
Discussions on closer cooperation between German trade unions had already been conducted back in the 1990s. These negotiations not only involved the future founding partners of Verdi, but also the former TRANSNET (GdED), the Education and Science Workers' Union (GEW) and the Food, Beverages and Catering Union (NGG).
On 4 October 1997, the chairmen of the DAG, DPG, GEW, HBV, IG Medien and ÖTV signed the "Hamburg Declaration", in which they supported the reorganisation of the representation of trade union interests in the service sector. This resulted in the establishment of a steering committee that worked in close cooperation with the executive committees of the trade unions involved to develop the key aspects of the fusion and the structure of the future large trade union.
After the GEW had left the merger process, the heads of the DAG, DPG, HBV, IG Medien and ÖTV agreed on the merger in the German city of Magdeburg in June 1999. In autumn of the same year, they opened a joint office in Berlin and in November 1999, the delegates of the five unions held extraordinary union conferences at which they agreed to establish a transitional organisation (GO-ver.di).
The representatives of the unions involved viewed the merger as a historic step, claiming that it would bring an end to the "rivalry among unions" in the service sector. Other observers criticised the merger, with IG Metall in particular expressing its concerns that the size of Verdi may cause it to make the DGB "explode". Critics also feared that the new trade union may force its way into the original areas of responsibility of the industrial unions. The German pilots' association Vereinigung Cockpit even used the planned merger as an opportunity to end its existing cooperation with the DAG.
In spring 2000, the merger project was brought to a temporary halt after the DAG and HBV adopted different positions on Saturday work at banks. The negotiations on the new Verdi Statute were a particular cause for conflict, so much so that they even resulted in temporary warnings that the major union may fail. Some of the ÖTV rank and file believed that the new trade union did not sufficiently consider their interests and observers believed that the ÖTV may be divided by the Verdi decision. Against this background, IG Medien even went as far as to suggest a merger without the ÖTV if necessary.
In November 2000, the delegates from the DAG, DPG, HBV and IG Medien nevertheless voted in favour of the establishment of Verdi with majorities of between and 78 and 99 percent. The positive outcome of the ÖTV was the weakest with a majority of just 65 percent. Herbert Mai therefore decided not to stand for re-election as the union's Chairman. His elected successor, Frank Bsirske, was also in favour of the merger and announced that he additionally planned to run for the role of Verdi Chairman.
The final step towards the establishment of Verdi involved the merger congresses of the five member unions, which took place between 16 and 18 March 2001 and resolved to dissolve the unions with majorities of between 80 and 91 percent. At the subsequent founding congress of Verdi, which was held between 19 and 21 March 2001, the establishment of the trade union was formally completed and Verdi's first National Executive Board was elected.
In the same month, Verdi concluded its first collective agreement with Deutsche Lufthansa. A short time later, Verdi was officially accepted into the DGB.
Organisational structure Verdi's highest body is its National Congress (Bundeskongress), which convenes once every four years to stipulate the basic principles of the union policy and to elect and formally approve the actions of the National Executive Board and the Trade Union Council (Gewerkschaftsrat). The trade union itself is divided up into different levels, divisions and groups of individuals. The divisions and groups of individuals have their own organs and committees on a local, district, state and national level. This matrix system was already a controversial decision back when Verdi was founded and problems concerning the management of the trade union continued to be brought to the forefront after its establishment. The matrix system is designed to not only represent the organisation Verdi as a whole, but also the interests of the individual professions of its members. The equal treatment of men and women in all organisational units is stipulated in the Verdi Statute and has been a central topic of the trade union ever since it was first established.
The Trade Union Council and National Executive Board Between the National Congresses, the Trade Union Council represents Verdi's highest body. The council is composed of representatives from the federal state districts, the divisions and the groups of women, young people and senior citizens. The Trade Union Council monitors compliance with the Verdi Statute, approves the union's annual budget and year-end accounts and supervises the National Executive Board.
The National Executive Board is responsible for all activities that are not restricted to the National Congress or the Trade Union Council as stipulated in the Verdi Statute. It is responsible for running Verdi's business activities and represents the trade union on an internal and external level. The National Executive Board is composed of a chairman, the Division Managers and up to five further members. The Board currently has nine members.
Federal state districts, districts and local levels Verdi's smallest regional units are its local districts, which can be formed if several divisions exist on a regional level. These local districts are designed to support and simplify cooperation between members. The next level up from the local level is the union's districts throughout Germany, which are in turn subordinate to the federal state districts. These federal state districts decide on the regional structures and dimensions of the districts in mutual agreement, while the federal state districts themselves are set up by the Trade Union Council. Verdi currently has ten federal state districts:
Baden-Württemberg Bavaria Berlin-Brandenburg Hamburg Hesse Lower Saxony / Bremen North (Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania) North Rhine-Westphalia Rhineland-Palatinate / Saarland Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia
Divisions and groups of individuals Verdi's divisions are oriented towards the industries and sectors of its members and are responsible for the "tasks involved in the subject-specific representation of member and company-related interests". The divisions determine their own inner structures and have their own statutes, which must be approved by the Trade Union Council. Verdi currently has five divisions (Fachbereiche), formerly 13 divisions:
A: Financial Services, Communications and Technology, Culture, Utilities and Disposal B: Public and Private Services, Social Insurance and Traffic C: Health, Social Services, Education and Science D: Trade E: Postal Services, Shipping Companies and Logistics
Specialist groups and specialist commissions can be formed within the individual divisions to particularly support and promote the specific interests of individual professions.
Alongside the divisions, the Verdi Statute also stipulates that so-called groups of individuals be established on a district, state and national level. Verdi currently has a total of eight groups of individuals:
Young People (Ver.di Jugend) Senior Citizens Workers Civil Servants Masters, Technicians and Engineers Freelance Collaborators and Personally Self-Employed, Freelance or Employee-Like Individuals Unemployed Individuals and Migrants
The tasks, structure and membership of each group of individuals is regulated by guidelines that are passed by the Trade Union Council based on proposals made by different committees.
Membership numbers and structure Verdi's total number of members decreased from 2.81 to 2.04 million between 2001 and 2014. One of the reasons behind this decrease is the union's competition with rival trade unions such as the physicians' union Marburger Bund and the pilots' association Vereinigung Cockpit. According to observers, Verdi is "comparatively good" at recruiting new members but is limited in its success when it comes to establishing loyalty among its members on a long-term basis. In fact, the battle against decreasing interest among employees and women in particular was already an issue even before the merger of the five individual unions in 2001. In 2003, member numbers dropped so low that Verdi was forced to let some of its own staff go. This was, however, also due to the fact that many structures were duplicated in the Verdi administration after the merger. In 2007, the National Congress instructed the executive board to take measures to stop or even reverse the dwindling member numbers. This led to the initiation of the "Chance 2011" (Opportunity 2011) campaign, which was continued in a similar form under the title of "Perspektive 2015" (Prospects for 2015) in 2012. As a result, Verdi representatives were able to refer to an "end to dwindling member numbers" in 2015, at least with regard to Germany's new federal states (from the former GDR). Today, it represents 200,000 employees in state and publicly listed banks alone.Tom Sims and Michael Nienaber (March 12, 2019), Germany's Verdi union opposed to Deutsche-Commerzbank merger Reuters.
Verdi has been running a member network that is open to Verdi members only since December 2008. Alongside member information and online services, the network enables members to get in touch and exchange expertise and experiences in forums.. In 2012, a working platform for committees, special interest groups, shop stewards and other individuals actively involved in the running of Verdi was added to the member network. The members of this platform can use it to hold discussions in closed groups, chat and provide information.
Tasks and objectives Collective bargaining policy