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Staff at struggling German retail giant agree to tighten belts
Sunday November 8, 2009, 7:51 am

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BERLIN (AFP) - Employees of the embattled German department store chain Karstadt, owned by the insolvent retail group Arcandor, agreed Saturday to take salary cuts as part of a last-ditch effort to save their jobs.

Staff representatives and Arcandor's judicial administrator agreed on cost cuts of 150 million euros over three years.

Staff at the loss-making stores notably agreed to give up bonus holidays and 75 percent of their Christmas bonus, said Cornelia Hass, a spokeswoman for the services trade union Verdi.

The cost-cutting plan is to be examined by Arcandor's creditors during a meeting in Essen on Monday and Tuesday.

Verdi has said 17 out of Karstadt's 126 stores remain threatened with closure. The judicial administrator has already declared Arcandor's mail-order subsidiary Quelle bankrupt.

Arcandor filed for bankruptcy protection in June.
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