German union Verdi said it was demanding a 6 percent wage increase for each of about 130,000 employees at Deutsche Post DHL in Germany.

Each worker should receive at least 140 euros more per month, the union said on Friday.

"The employees expect to have noticeably more money in their pockets," Verdi's lead negotiator Andrea Kocsis said.

Staff costs account for about a third of overall expenses at Deutsche Post, Europe's biggest express mail and delivery company. Last year, it agreed to a 4 percent pay increase in a labour deal that runs out on March 31.

Deutsche Post and Verdi are due to start negotiations for a new 12-month deal on March 22.

(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Maria Sheahan)