Ikea’s Profit Milestone Collides With 280 Job Cuts as ver.di Widens Strike Wave
19.06.2026 - 13:45:05 | boerse-global.de
The industrial action sweeping Germany’s retail sector hit Ikea hardest on Friday, with the ver.di union calling warning strikes at 27 of the Swedish furniture giant’s 54 domestic stores. The walkouts come as the company celebrates its second-best financial year ever — €6.1 billion in revenue — yet simultaneously pushes ahead with plans to eliminate 280 jobs in Rostock and shut down its IT department in Dortmund.
Union leaders say the timing is no coincidence. “Ikea chooses to wield the axe even as it posts record sales,” a ver.di spokesperson explained. “That makes it a clear target for our demands.”
The strike action is concentrated in North Rhine-Westphalia, where workers at six out of eleven local Ikea branches downed tools. Affected locations include Duisburg, Essen, Dortmund, Bielefeld, and both Cologne outlets in Godorf and Butzweilerhof. Employees in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region also joined the protest.
Ikea said it respects the right to strike but aims to keep stores open and minimise disruption for shoppers.
A yawning gap between offers and demands
At the heart of the dispute is a chasm between what ver.di wants and what employers are willing to pay. The union is demanding a 7-percent wage increase over twelve months, with a floor of €225 extra per month. In Berlin and Brandenburg, it also seeks a minimum hourly wage of €14.90.
Employers have countered with a 24-month contract featuring six months of no increase, followed by 2 percent from November 2026 and another 1.5 percent from August 2027. ver.di rejected the proposal outright, noting that in the previous round (2023—2025) it won a cumulative 14-percent rise.
The German Retail Association (HDE) said businesses have adapted to such strikes and that consumer supply remains secure.
Escalation across the sector
The wave of walkouts has spread beyond Ikea. On Wednesday, wholesale giant Metro in Essen faced its second consecutive day of strike action. In Berlin and Brandenburg, wholesale workers began warning strikes Thursday, with retail staff following Friday.
Tensions have been building since mid-May, when roughly 5,000 employees from 200 companies — including Rewe, Edeka, and Kaufland — staged initial protests. Friday also saw a central rally for Berlin retail workers at Wittenbergplatz.
Negotiations are set to resume on June 22 in Rhineland-Palatinate for retail and in Hamburg for wholesale. Berlin and Brandenburg follow on June 23. A fourth round for wholesale is expected later in the month.
