Commerzbank Works Council Prepares Criminal Complaint Over Unicredit Takeover Bid
13.06.2026 - 00:44:05 | boerse-global.de
The Commerzbank group works council is planning to file a criminal complaint for suspected market manipulation against Italian lender Unicredit. Workers’ representatives argue the takeover offer – which values the bank below its current share price – amounts to deliberate deception. Sascha Uebel, the works council chairman, said he believes investors are being misled. Unicredit has built its stake in Commerzbank to just over 37 percent. Germany’s financial watchdog, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), has already been notified.
The Commerzbank confrontation forms the sharpest edge of a deeply divided German wage landscape in mid?2026. While some industries have quietly signed new contracts, others remain locked in escalating disputes.
Construction settles on 3.5 percent
In the spring wage round, construction employers and unions agreed on an average pay rise of 3.5 percent for roughly 250,000 workers. Skilled craftsmen (Facharbeiter) will take home about €1,690 more per year; tilers (Fliesenleger) get an additional €1,550. Increases were steepest in industrial construction, general building and bodywork, where wages climbed as much as 3.6 percent. Since 2019, cumulative wage growth in the sector stands at 31.4 percent – comfortably ahead of cumulative inflation of 27.3 percent.
Chemical industry pact after eight rounds and strikes
The chemical sector required eight negotiating sessions and prior walkouts before reaching a deal. For 50,000 employees, actual (Ist-) wages rise by 1.8 percent, capped at €100 per month. A one?off payment of €300 (or, at the worker’s choice, an extra day off) is also included. Minimum wages and apprentice pay increase by 2.0 percent. The collective agreement applies retroactively from 1 May 2026 and is indexed to rolling inflation of 3.35 percent. Negotiators also added one more week of paid care leave for parents of disabled children.
Hospital strikes spread across four university clinics
While some sectors are wrapping up talks, health?care workers are digging in. The ver.di union has called 26,000 employees at the university hospitals of Freiburg, Heidelberg, Ulm and Tübingen to a two?day warning strike next Monday and Tuesday. ver.di demands a 7.5 percent pay rise, at least €320 more per month, and for trainees an increase of €250 plus a mobility allowance. The next bargaining round is scheduled for 17 June.
Retail deadlocked in Hesse, expanding in the north
Retail wage talks in Hesse ended a third round without result. Employers accused ver.di of lacking willingness to compromise, offering 3.5 percent in two stages over 24 months. In northern Germany, the union escalated warning strikes on 11 and 12 June, targeting clothing chains H&M, C&A and Zara in Hannover, Bremen and Lüneburg. The demand there is 7 percent or at least €225 more per month. Employers have so far proposed 2 percent from November 2026 and a further 1.5 percent from August 2027. Negotiations are set to resume on 6 July.
WDR deal splits union ranks
At public?broadcaster WDR, the VRFF union reached a collective pact with management spanning 35 months. Wages rise in steps: 1.23 percent retroactive to February 2026, 2.0 percent from February 2027, and 1.0 percent from February 2028. Additional increases are tied to conditions such as the ARD funding?allocation rule. But ver.di and the German Journalists’ Association (DJV) have rejected the result, calling it too low and pointing to bigger settlements in the wider public sector. Next bargaining meetings are coming up in June at other broadcasters: NDR, BR and SWR.
