Deutsche Telekom Faces Growing Labour Disruption as Ver.di Widens Strike Action

Union escalates strikes to four more German states after no offer in wage talks, threatening customer service and fiber-optic expansion at Deutsche Telekom.

Ver.di is turning up the pressure on Deutsche Telekom. After the second round of wage talks collapsed on April 27 without a single offer from management, the union has expanded its warning strikes into four additional German states — North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia — escalating a dispute that now threatens to hit customers directly.

The walkouts follow a first wave of full-shift stoppages on April 28, when more than 3,000 employees in northern and northeastern Germany downed tools. Ver.di called another 1,500 workers to join the action on April 29 across the three eastern states, where the union represents between 7,500 and 8,000 collective bargaining employees in total.

What the Union Wants

At the heart of the conflict is ver.di’s demand for a 6.6% pay rise over a 12-month contract period for roughly 60,000 tariff employees nationwide. On top of that, the union is pushing for an annual member bonus of €660 and a €120-per-month increase in training allowances for apprentices and dual-study students.

Pascal Röckert, ver.di’s strike coordinator, made clear that customers will feel the fallout. Delays in technical customer service, disruptions to fibre-optic expansion and cancelled appointments are unavoidable, he warned. The severity of the disruption will depend on how quickly both sides can find common ground.

A Buyback Becomes a Bargaining Chip

The union has seized on Deutsche Telekom’s planned €2 billion share buyback programme for 2026 as evidence that the company has room to move on wages. Such capital returns, ver.di argues, show financial flexibility exists. The group’s adjusted EBITDA came in at €44.2 billion in 2025, with a target of around €47.4 billion for 2026 — figures that do little to weaken the union’s hand.

For investors, the picture is more complicated. Deutsche Telekom’s stock is trading at roughly €27, more than 21% below its 52-week high and down over 16% in the past 30 days alone. At around €26.76, the shares sit nearly 17% below their 50-day moving average and have lost almost 4% since the start of the year. Deutsche Bank Research, however, maintains a buy recommendation with a price target of €42. Analyst Robert Grindle pointed to a strong first quarter from US subsidiary T-Mobile and positively received management comments on potential consolidation scenarios.

What’s Next

Two more negotiating sessions are scheduled — May 11-12 and May 26-27. If no progress emerges in early May, ver.di is expected to intensify its campaign. Deutsche Telekom is due to publish its first-quarter 2026 results on May 13, a date that will thrust the labour dispute back into the spotlight and test how markets digest the numbers against the backdrop of industrial unrest.