Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof: department store chain in “existence-threatening emergency”

Dusseldorf, Berlin The economic problems of the department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof are obviously bigger than expected. With the termination of the collective agreement with the Verdi union, the company has admitted that it is in extreme economic difficulties. Because according to the wording of the collective agreement, termination is only possible if Galeria is in an “existence-threatening economic emergency”.

This is set out in Article 23 of the integration collective agreement, which is available to the Handelsblatt. It also states that this emergency must be confirmed by an external economic expert. In a letter to the employees, Galeria CEO Miguel Müllenbach himself speaks of a “topic of existential importance”.

Galeria had terminated the collective agreement concluded two years ago last week. However, the company had only argued with an “economically tense situation”. But the problems obviously go deeper. The company left a Handelsblatt inquiry unanswered by the time of going to press.

Galeria has to pay 150 million euros more for energy