KarstadtQuelle to slash 5,500 jobs as part of rescue plan: union

ESSEN, Germany (AFP) - KarstadtQuelle, the crisis-ridden German department store operator, plans to cut 5,500 jobs and freeze the wages of its remaining employees over the next three years as part of a 760-million-euro (935-million-dollar) cost-cutting package, unions said.
Some 4,000 jobs would be axed in the group`s department stores and a further 1,500 jobs in KarstadtQuelle`s mail-order activities, the giant services sector labour union Ver.di said. Most of the jobs affected would be in administration, rather than the sales staff.
KarstadtQuelle employs nearly 100,000 people worldwide.