CinemaxX Workers Walk Out Across Germany as Union Targets €15.80 Wage Floor
27.06.2026 - 06:53:44 | boerse-global.de
The service workers' union ver.di has called a nationwide warning strike at CinemaxX cinemas, pressuring the chain to raise pay for its lowest-paid employees. All 1,200 workers at the multiplex operator are covered by the action.
Demand for a higher floor
ver.di is demanding a new minimum wage of €15.80 per hour for CinemaxX staff. The union says nobody in the chain should earn less than that. Today's walkouts are designed to sharpen the pressure ahead of formal negotiations.
Part of a wider wave
The cinema strike is not an isolated event. On Wednesday and Thursday, ver.di also summoned retail and wholesale workers to temporary stoppages in several German states. Several hundred demonstrators gathered in Augsburg for a central rally. ver.di chairman Frank Werneke called the employers' offers in the retail sector inadequate. In that branch, the union is demanding a 7 percent pay rise – at least €222 to €225 more per month – plus a minimum hourly rate of €14.90. Employers have countered with smaller increases, some of which would not take effect until 2026 or 2027.
Patchy disruption
How badly cinema operations were affected today remained unclear. Similar warning strikes in the retail sector – at outlets of Kaufland, IKEA, H&M and Primark – saw only scattered participation yesterday in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate. Most stores kept regular hours.
Talks at CinemaxX and in regional retail are stuck. New negotiating rounds for the retail sector are scheduled for early July. ver.di rejected the previous proposals as far too low. At CinemaxX, the course of future discussions will hinge on the willingness of workers at individual sites to strike.
