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STRIKES

Thousands of families affected as Berlin Kitas set for strike

Nursery teachers are set to walk out on Tuesday, after a strike was called by the German Education Union (GEW) over a pay dispute. It came as negotiations started for employees of Berlin public transport operator BVG, which could also result in industrial action.

Published: 28 January 2019 11:42 CET
Thousands of families affected as Berlin Kitas set for strike
File photo shows children's shoes in a Berlin Kita. Photo: DPA

Parents in Berlin are being urged to contact the management of their children's Kita on Monday to find out whether they are affected and, if so, whether emergency care relief is being offered.

The B.Z. reported that there are around 276 state-owned Kitas in Berlin which look after about 34,000 children. There are an estimated 13,000 nursery teachers in the capital.

Some Kitas will remain closed during Tuesday’s half day so-called  'warning strike', while others will offer emergency care.

“Although the situation is difficult for the parents, the solidarity is very high,” said Doreen Siebernik, chairman of the GEW union in Berlin.

GEW called for the strike after the first round of pay negotiations last Monday.

SEE ALSO: How a childcare crisis is leaving Berlin parents stuck at home with their kids

The B.Z. said that nursery school teachers in Berlin earn significantly less than in other federal states. This issue is being examined in the collective agreement of states (TdL).

The union said Kita teachers are striking now because they “don’t want to be forgotten” in the country-wide bargaining round.

The finance senator needs to know that nursery school teachers “want to finally earn more,” said Siebernik. 

The union is demanding pay increases of six percent for educators, or at least €200 extra per month, reported the Berliner Morgenpost. The trade unions also want to make the profession more attractive by upgrading the salary.

Rally at 9am Tuesday

The nursery teachers’ so-called 'warning strike' on Tuesday is limited to a half day. The strike will start with a rally at 9 am at Dorothea-Schlegel-Platz at Friedrichstraße station in Berlin’s Mitte. 

Siebernik also invited parents to the rally. “Because one thing is clear: only with a better salary will the city be able to recruit sufficiently well qualified nursery teachers,” she added.

The strikers will receive support from cross-party politicians on Tuesday. Both Raed Saleh, chairman of the Berlin SPD faction, and Katrin Seidel, deputy chairman of the Left faction, want to speak at the rally. The Greens will also support the industrial action.

SEE ALSO: Free for all? How Germany plans to tackle its childcare problem

Berlin's Finance Senator Matthias Kollatz (SPD) will lead the negotiations with the union.

In Berlin, a total of 140,000 people are directly affected by the collective bargaining. In addition to nursery teachers, these include nurses, school teachers and doctors. The next round of collective bargaining will take place on February 6th and 7th in Potsdam.

Public transport users could be hit

Meanwhile, Berlin's public transport system (BVG) could also come to a standstill. On Monday, negotiations were due to begin on the collective agreement for some 14,500 BVG employees. The main focus there is on better working conditions. Later, wage increases will also be negotiated. 

However, BVG customers don't have to deal with this scenario right away. “We're not threatening strikes before negotiations begin,” Verdi negotiator Jeremy Arndt told the Berliner Morgenpost on Sunday.

However, possible future action by the union will depend on the reactions of employers. Among other things, Verdi demands a reduction of the weekly working hours for all BVG employees from 39 to 36.5 hours with full wage compensation as well as improvements to the Christmas bonus.

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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