the international catering company Sodexo. As is typical of the industry, Sodexo does not conclude industrial collective agreements but instead uses collective agreements on a company level. According to information presented by the Neue Ruhr Zeitung newspaper, the wages of employees at the German Employee Academy (DAA), which is closely linked to Verdi, were below the rate that Verdi had negotiated with rivals such as the charitable organisations or Diakonie. Verdi's actions during strikes are also constantly the subject of criticism, with some reports claiming that in individual cases, employees have been forced to strike, which the trade union denied. Critics have also labelled several strikes organised by Verdi as out of proportion. Presidents 2001: Frank Bsirske 2019: Frank Werneke Further reading Berndt Keller: Multibranchengewerkschaft als Erfolgsmodell? Zusammenschlüsse als organisatorisches Novum - das Beispiel Verdi. VSA-Verlag, Hamburg 2004, (in German). Hans-Peter Müller, Horst-Udo Niedenhoff, Manfred Wilke: Verdi: Porträt und Positionen. Deutscher Instituts-Verlag, Köln 2002, (in German). Lars Kalkbrenner 2017: A Comparative Case Study about Trade Unions in the Tertiary Sector. Merged trade unions in Switzerland and Germany. Master thesis, Global Labour University/ Berlin School of Economics and Law/ University of Kassel. Notes and references External links German Trade Union Confederation 2001 establishments in Germany Organisations based in Berlin Trade unions established in 2001