Frank Werneke is chairman of the Verdi trade union
Source: dpa/Jonathan Penschek
After the failure of collective bargaining for the public sector, an arbitrator is now intervening. As of Sunday, there may be no more work stoppages during the arbitration period. Until then, the Verdi boss has announced individual warning strikes.
Nfter collective bargaining in the public sector failed, the head of the Verdi union, Frank Werneke, announced further warning strikes. “Until the beginning of the peace obligation on Sunday, we are planning individual warning strikes in various areas, including in daycare centers or clinics,” he told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Friday). However, it will mainly be about information formats, there are no plans to paralyze entire administrations or companies.
The federal and local authorities initiated arbitration on Thursday after not being able to reach an agreement with the unions in the third round of collective bargaining. As of this Sunday, there is a peace obligation for the time of the arbitration, so there must be no more work stoppages for the time being.
According to Werneke, there will be no more warning strikes until around mid-April. For the time after that he could not rule out anything. “If the result of the arbitration and the subsequent renewed negotiations are not sufficient, we would have to decide on a nationwide strike,” he said. But Verdi is going into the arbitration constructively. In order for it to succeed, however, employers would have to “offer a sufficient amount of social compensation that they refused last night”.
The Verdi trade union and the civil servants’ association DBB are demanding 10.5 percent more income, but at least 500 euros more per month for the 2.5 million employees in the public sector at federal and local level. According to Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD), the employers offered 8 percent more income and a minimum amount of 300 euros – plus a tax-free one-off payment of 3000 euros with a payment of 1750 euros in May.