Kaufland increased its profit in Slovakia to EUR 91 million while employees at the supermarket chain are voting on whether to give their union a mandate to call a strike following a long-running dispute over their first collective agreement.
Profit rose from EUR 79 million to EUR 91 million in the financial year from March 2025 to February 2026, while revenues increased by EUR 120 million to EUR 1.97 billion.
The profit was just EUR 2 million below Kaufland’s record from 2023. It also matched the EUR 91 million earned by Lidl, Slovakia’s largest supermarket chain by revenues, for the first time. Both companies belong to Germany’s Schwarz Group.
Talks between Kaufland and the OZ KOVO trade union began in March 2025, but 19 rounds failed to produce the company’s first collective agreement in Slovakia, Hospodarske noviny (HN) reported on August 25.
The unresolved issues have included money, working hours and meal allowances. The union turned to the Labour Ministry for mediation in April, but that process also ended without an agreement on July 15.
OZ KOVO declared strike readiness the following day and began seeking a mandate from employees for an actual strike. Kaufland employs almost 8,900 people in Slovakia. More than half of eligible employees must take part in the ballot, and a majority of those voting must back strike action.
One of the main remaining sticking points is additional financial compensation. The union initially sought summer and winter bonuses, effectively a 13th salary split into two payments. It later reduced its demand to a one-off EUR 700 payment in December 2026, which Kaufland rejected.
“Over the past five years, Kaufland accumulated net profit of more than EUR 420 million,” local OZ KOVO chairman Rastislav Hruska said. “These results did not happen by themselves. They were created by the work of thousands of employees in stores, warehouses and administrative workplaces.”
Kaufland argues that it already offers above-average pay in Slovakia’s food retail sector.
Its latest accounts show that spending on wages and social-security contributions rose from EUR 196 million to EUR 215 million. The company also added almost 400 employees during the financial year.
The minimum starting salary for a full-time shop-floor employee working 38.75 hours a week is EUR 1,200, Kaufland spokeswoman Lucia Vargova has said.
“Wages in our company are regularly reviewed and the aim of our long-term wage strategy is to be among the above-average-paying employers in retail,” she said.
During negotiations, Kaufland has also offered additional days off, monthly 20% shopping discounts and a higher meal allowance. (The Slovak Spectator)