The decisive round begins in the collective bargaining dispute for state employees. The unions have been flexing their muscles for weeks – they are boldly campaigning to resume talks.
Before the possible final round in the collective bargaining dispute over the state’s public services, the unions are putting pressure on employers. Verdi boss Frank Werneke called on the states to submit a sufficient offer. “The game of hide-and-seek must now come to an end,” Werneke told the German Press Agency in Berlin. “The determination of the state employees to seriously fight for their demands has become more than clear during the current warning strikes,” warned Werneke. Employers must take the discontent among the workforce seriously.
In recent weeks, employees at university hospitals, universities and the judiciary, among others, have gone on warning strikes to demand more income. In Düsseldorf alone, around 15,000 workers marched through the city center in demonstrations on Tuesday. The third round of negotiations between the unions and the state employers starts this Thursday in Potsdam.
Further strikes possible
The chairman of the civil service association dbb, Ulrich Silberbach, also emphasized the willingness to fight of the unions, which are also able to mobilize in the federal states. “Our colleagues are also able to carry out forced strikes in many centrally important places in the state,” said Silberbach. Such strikes would require a strike vote. According to observers, it is more likely that there will be a breakthrough in Potsdam by the weekend or that the negotiations will be postponed again. In this case, new warning strikes would be likely.
“We expect that the state employers in Potsdam will finally submit an offer that does not fall short of the TVöD agreement,” demanded Werneke. He was alluding to the conclusion for the federal and local governments in April. As in the current collective bargaining dispute, the unions had demanded 10.5 percent more income, but at least 500 euros more. The agreement at that time included tax- and duty-free special payments totaling 3,000 euros, a base amount of 200 euros and then 5.5 percent more. The states had rejected the union demands as too expensive.
Mixed signals
Werneke said: “In addition, hundreds of thousands of student employees must finally be classified.” Overall, the states have a responsibility to ensure that citizens are properly provided with public services and that their employees are paid appropriately.
According to Silberbach, the unions had received mixed signals from the state side in the past few days. The state finance ministers are slowly realizing that they have to remain on an equal footing with the federal and local governments when it comes to payments. At the same time, they wanted to use the employees to help balance the states’ budgets. However, the unions would not accept any real wage losses.
Source: Stern
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