Marburg Bund
Planned strikes at municipal clinics initially canceled
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The threat of strikes at municipal hospitals has been averted for the time being. The union and employers were able to agree on a package. But is it also accepted?
There will be no strike at the municipal hospitals in Germany this week. The Marburger Bund doctors’ union announced that the strike would initially be suspended. There were renewed discussions with the Association of Municipal Employers (VKA), during which a package was agreed upon. This will now be presented to the members for a vote.
After no agreement was initially reached in the collective bargaining round, the Marburger Bund called on doctors at municipal clinics nationwide to go on strike from Wednesday to Friday. Meanwhile, non-urgent treatments and operations should be omitted, but emergencies should be treated.
Bavaria would have been particularly affected by the strike because it has around 200 hospitals, more than a third of all municipal hospitals in Germany.
Eight percent salary increase by the end of 2026
According to the Marburger Bund, the exploratory result now achieved stipulates that the salaries of the more than 61,000 doctors will increase linearly by four percent retroactively to July 1, 2024 – in direct connection with the previous tariff regulation. A second increase of two percent is to follow on August 1, 2025, before there is a third increase of a further two percent on June 1, 2026.
“That’s a total of eight percent linear salary increase until the end of the term on December 31, 2026,” said the Marburger Bund. Other salary components such as on-call pay and the emergency service allowance increased accordingly.
Shift work reform
There was also a compromise on the reform of the shift work regulations that the union strongly demanded. The union judged that the current result was not yet a system change, but a noticeable improvement compared to the status quo.
Among other things, the allowances for shift work and alternating shift work should be standardized and increased. Regulations that have previously prevented the granting of allowances and additional leave for shift work should also be deleted in favor of doctors.
The VKA negotiator, Dirk Töpfer, commented that the package was balanced and “takes into account both the legitimate interests of the doctors and the difficult economic situation of the municipal hospitals.” The term of 30 months also provides planning security.
Organization of the ballot has started
According to the Marburger Bund, the organization of the ballot is already underway. The result will be available in the second week of February. The union and VKA had agreed a deadline for declarations until February 14, 2025. Until then, the union will refrain from taking industrial action.
Before the exploratory result that has now been achieved, the municipal employers had, among other things, offered a salary increase of 5.5 percent, which should come in several steps until the end of 2026. The Marburger Bund, on the other hand, had demanded 8.5 percent more money per year and a reform of shift work regulations.
dpa
Source: Stern

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