No more strikes to be expected in the University Medicine Mainz
Thursday, June 1, 07:20: During the collective bargaining at the University Medical Center in Mainz, there was an agreement on Wednesday. “Further strikes are therefore not planned,” said a spokesman for the Verdi union. A result was achieved that the Verdi members could now vote on by the end of June. “Our collective bargaining committee recommends accepting the result,” said the spokesman. More than 7000 non-medical employees of the university medicine are affected by the negotiations.
New in the package is an inflation compensation premium for this year in the amount of 3000 euros net, which is to be paid out in two tranches. In addition, it is planned to increase wages by 200 euros plus two percent per month from January 1, 2024. From August 1, 2024 there should be another four percent more, said the Verdi spokesman. “We are pleased that we were able to reach a good result at the negotiating table.”
Before the negotiations on Wednesday, further possible strikes had been in the room. At the beginning of May, the non-medical employees of the largest hospital in Rhineland-Palatinate went on a warning strike lasting several days. Negotiations began on March 22nd.
Bahn rejects further negotiations with EVG for the time being
Wednesday, May 31, 4:49 am: After the rejection of Deutsche Bahn’s latest offer by the railway and transport union (EVG), the company initially rejected further collective bargaining. “It’s pointless at the moment because the ECG doesn’t move a millimeter,” explained DB HR Director Martin Seiler on Wednesday night. The flat-rate rejection of the third, again greatly improved DB offer by the EVG is “incomprehensible”.
The EVG does not show any concessions and does not propose any solutions, but “simply stubbornly insists on its initial demands”, criticized Seiler. The railway now wants to comprehensively assess the overall situation and discuss further steps in the responsible committees, he announced.
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The chief negotiator of the EVG, Kristian Loroch, declared on Tuesday evening that essential points of the union demands were “still not fulfilled”. He called on the railways “urgently” to “realign their offer immediately” and “to negotiate further with us immediately”. This is possible from Wednesday.
Negotiations should be in the interest of the railways, “because as long as we sit at the negotiating table, there will be no strikes,” emphasized Loroch on Tuesday. The EVG had already twice called for a strike in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute. She then called for a 50-hour warning strike for mid-May. After a settlement with the railways was reached before the labor court in Frankfurt am Main, she suspended the walkout for the time being and both sides entered into negotiations again.
The railways had presented a new offer on Thursday, which provides for wage increases of up to twelve percent, which should start this year.
Seiler accused the EVG of “putting everyone in a difficult position with the rejection”. “For the time being, the employees are not getting the wage increase they are urgently waiting for. And the travelers and the company have to continue to deal with a completely unresolved situation.” DB has already submitted three offers, twice pushed hard on them and kept moving towards EVG, he explained.
Collective bargaining dispute: EVG rejects Deutsche Bahn’s latest offer as “insufficient”.
10:46 p.m.: The EVG union has rejected Deutsche Bahn’s latest offer in the collective bargaining dispute as “insufficient”, but wants to continue negotiations. “Essential points of our demands have still not been met. DB AG is urgently requested to realign its offer immediately, ”said the negotiator of the railway and transport union (EVG), Kristian Loroch, on Tuesday evening. He called on Deutsche Bahn to “negotiate with us immediately”. This is possible from Wednesday.
“What is currently on the table is socially unfair,” explained Loroch. The planned percentage scale disadvantages “particularly the lower wage groups, for which we want to get significantly more out this time”. The railways had presented a new offer on Thursday, which provides for wage increases of up to twelve percent, which should start this year.
Negotiations should be in the interest of the railways, “because as long as we sit at the negotiating table, there will be no strikes,” emphasized Loroch on Tuesday. The EVG had already twice called for a strike in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute. She then called for a 50-hour warning strike for mid-May. After a settlement with the railways was reached before the labor court in Frankfurt am Main, she suspended the walkout for the time being and both sides entered into negotiations again.
Warning strikes in retail in East Westphalia again on Tuesday and Wednesday
Tuesday, May 30, 7:30 a.m.: After a nationwide warning strike in mid-May, the Verdi union once again called on workers in retail, wholesale and foreign trade to walk out. Next Tuesday and Wednesday they want to go on strike in Ostwestfalen-Lippe for better pay and working conditions. Employees in branches of Primark, H&M, Kaufland, Ikea, Smyth Toys and Marktkauf, Schüco, Phoenix, Leitz, Noweda and Edeka Foodservice are called upon to do so.
The results of the previous rounds of negotiations were not satisfactory, the union said in a statement on Saturday. The willingness to go on strike is therefore very high, as Ursula Jacob-Reisinger said as trade union secretary for trade in OWL.
In the 2023 collective bargaining round in retail in North Rhine-Westphalia, Verdi is demanding 2.50 euros more salary and wages per hour. Training allowances are to be increased by 250 euros. Negotiations will continue on June 12 in Recklinghausen.
In wholesale and foreign trade in North Rhine-Westphalia, Verdi wants an increase in fees of 13 percent, but at least 400 euros. Training allowances are also to be increased by 250 euros. Negotiations will continue here on June 13, 2023.
Retail workers are walking down again
Saturday, May 27, 5:14 p.m.: One day after the warning strikes in retail in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, employees went back to work on Saturday. The Verdi union had previously called for warning strikes again. Around 300 people took part in the warning strike in both countries, as Verdi coordinator Monika Di Silvestre said. Of these, around 200 employees were at the strike rally in Kaiserslautern in the morning. The branches of Galeria, Ikea, H&M, Kaufland, Hornbach and Primark are affected by the warning strikes.
According to Verdi, 150 to 200 employees stopped work on Friday. “Colleagues are striking again today so that employers can finally move and realize that their situation is serious,” said Di Silvestre. The employees are urgently dependent on a sustainable wage increase in order to be able to pay the daily living expenses.
The background is the current collective bargaining for the retail and mail order trade in Rhineland-Palatinate. According to Di Silvestre, around 150,000 employees in Rhineland-Palatinate are affected. Verdi is demanding 2.50 euros more per hour worked, a term for the collective agreements of twelve months and the introduction of generally binding collective agreements in retail and mail order. In addition, trainee remuneration should increase by EUR 250 per year of training.
The trade association proposed a two-stage offer over two years. In the first year there should be a tariff increase of three percent, in the second year by two percent.
The first round of collective bargaining took place at the beginning of May. Further talks are to take place next Tuesday, May 30th.
Threatening warning strike in schools: Representatives of the Senate speak to the GEW
3:12 p.m.: The Berlin Senate wants to talk to the Education and Science Union (GEW) about the announced three-day warning strike. Finance Senator Stefan Evers and Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (both CDU) invited the Berlin GEW chairmen Tom Erdmann and Martina Regulin to a meeting on Wednesday, as the education administration announced on Friday. The aim should be to find out to what extent the strike could be averted or at least shortened, which coincided with the period of the Abitur exams. “Together, we must aim to reduce the workload of educators and at the same time achieve better learning and teaching conditions,” the statement says.
The Berlin GEW had called on the employees at the schools to a warning strike for June 6th to 8th. The trade unionists announced that they wanted to increase the pressure because the new Finance Senator Evers, like his predecessor Daniel Wesener (Greens), had not responded to the call for collective bargaining. The GEW wants to regulate the ratio of pupils to teachers and thus the class size at general and vocational schools in a “collective agreement on health protection”.
The tax authorities had pointed out that Berlin was a member of the collective bargaining community of the federal states and therefore could not meet the request for a “special collective agreement”. The red-green-red Senate had already argued the same way.
There are around 34,000 teachers in Berlin. Many of them are employees and – unlike civil servants – are allowed to go on strike. Several thousand teachers have taken part in the previous warning strikes – some lessons have been cancelled.
Tariff agreement reached in Bavarian local transport
Friday, May 26, 10:56 am: After several warning strikes in Bavarian local transport, the union and employers have agreed on a new collective agreement. As the Bavarian municipal employers’ association announced on Friday, the payment of a tax-free inflation adjustment of 3,000 euros was agreed on Thursday evening.
The sum is to be distributed in June initially with a one-time payment of 1240 euros, until February 2024 there will be 220 euros per month. From March 2024, wages will then be increased by at least 340 euros. A later increase in shift allowances and a better classification of the drivers had also been agreed.
Employer negotiator Magdalena Weigel said that the deal had succeeded in averting further strikes at the expense of passengers. The attractiveness of the profession will be strengthened by the new collective agreement. Employers hope that this will make it easier for them to recruit the specialists they are looking for.
The Verdi union emphasized that there was also a commitment to negotiate to improve working conditions. “In some places, this result goes well beyond the level of public service and thus compensates to some extent for the long term until the end of 2024, which unfortunately could not be negotiated away,” emphasized Verdi negotiator Sinan Öztürk.
In Bavaria, local transport is not part of the public service in collective bargaining, for which an agreement had already been reached.
More information on the warning strikes on the following pages.
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