Unions and employers in Potsdam have been fighting over the income of 2.5 million employees since Monday.
Collective bargaining for the public sector at the federal and local levels has failed. Employers and unions failed to reach a result in the last of three planned rounds of talks. Independent arbitrators will now seek a solution. During the arbitration period, there is an obligation of peace – so there will be no further shutdowns in the public sector on Easter days.
“In the end we had to realize that the differences could not be bridged,” said Verdi boss Frank Werneke on Thursday morning in Potsdam. The head of the dbb civil servants’ association, Ulrich Silberbach, also spoke out on behalf of his union.
Shortly thereafter, Home Secretary Nancy Faeser (SPD) announced: “We will now call for arbitration.” Faeser and the municipal negotiator, Karin Welge, lamented that the unions had declared bankruptcy. Employers would have offered 8 percent more income and a minimum value of 300 euros and a single installment of 3,000 euros.
In arbitration, previously appointed independent arbitrators propose a solution within a specified period. The parties to the collective agreement negotiate again.
Revenue from 2.5 million employees
Since Monday, unions and employers in Potsdam have been negotiating the incomes of 2.5 million employees in their third round of negotiations. The Verdi union and the dbb employees’ association demand 10.5 percent more income, but at least 500 euros more per month. This minimum amount is crucial for them: for low-income people, this should compensate for high inflation. VKA has long rejected a minimum amount.
Employers also dismissed the demands as unreachable. For the second round of negotiations in February, they came up with a significantly lower offer. They offered 5% more salary and spot payments of initially 1,500 and then another 1,000 euros. The unions reacted with indignation and organized larger and larger warning strikes.
In recent weeks, unions have paralyzed public transport, but also nurseries, clinics and garbage collection with large warning strikes.
“Highest participation in warning strike in decades”
Verdi has been strengthened by the massive warning attacks of recent weeks. Verdi chief Frank Werneke spoke of the “largest warning strike turnout in many years and decades”. The union registered more than 70,000 applications in the last three months.
Members of many professions are affected by collective bargaining in the public sector – including educators, bus drivers, swimming pool workers, firefighters, nurses, administrative workers, geriatric nurses, sewage treatment plant workers, foresters and physicians. This is the income of more than 2.4 million employees of municipal employers and 134,000 of the federal government. According to the will of the unions, the result should be passed on to civil servants.
(APA/dpa)