BERLIN/BONN (dpa-AFX) - Postal customers must again expect delays in letters and parcels in the next few days. That's because the Verdi trade union continued its nationwide wave of warning strikes at the Bonn-based logistics giant on Monday, with work stoppages at letter and parcel centers and in delivery operations. "The strikes have started well. The mood is excellent," a Verdi spokesman said Monday.

The union wants to use the work stoppages to emphasize its demands in the current round of collective bargaining. The warning strikes are also expected to continue on Tuesday. "This is once again a crystal-clear signal to the employers: the employees are ready to fight for their demands and now expect a round of negotiations that ends with a hefty pay increase," said Verdi deputy chairwoman and negotiator Andrea Kocsis.

The union is demanding a 15 percent pay rise for the approximately 160,000 pay-scale employees in the Post & Parcel Germany sector. The demand is justified, among other things, by high inflation. "Our members are taking to the streets because they simply cannot afford a loss of purchasing power" said Kocsis.

The Post reacted with incomprehension to Verdi's action. A company spokesman said the group had already announced an offer for the next round of wage negotiations on Wednesday and Thursday. The new warning strikes were therefore excessive. The union's behavior was to the detriment of the Group's customers.

The warning strikes on Monday focused on Berlin and Rostock, among other cities. For Tuesday, Verdi also announced protest rallies in Dortmund, Hamburg, Saarbrücken, Polch (Rhineland-Palatinate), Nuremberg, Frankfurt/Main and Stuttgart.

Warning strikes had already been held on several days in January. Most recently, 20 percent of parcels and 9 percent of letters were not delivered on one day due to the walkouts./rea/DP/mis