Despite three days of negotiations, the unions and employers were unable to reach an agreement. Finally there was an explosion. Arbitration is currently pending.
Collective bargaining for the public sector at the federal and local level has failed. Employers and unions failed to reach a conclusion in the last of the three planned rounds of negotiations.
Independent arbitrators will now seek solutions. There is an obligation of peace during the arbitration period – so there will be no new strikes in the public sector during Easter.
Werneke said Verdi declared that the negotiations had failed. The union bodies had decided this unanimously. Ulrich Silberbach, head of the civil servants’ association dbb, also expressed his views on behalf of his union.
Arbitration is convened
Shortly after, Federal Secretary of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) said, “We will now convene the arbitration.” Faeser and municipal negotiator Karin Welge were upset that the unions declared that they had failed.
Employers would offer 8 percent more income and a minimum of 300 euros and a one-time payment of 3,000 euros.
In arbitration, pre-appointed independent arbitrators propose a resolution within a certain time limit. The parties to the collective bargaining agreement then renegotiate it.
Three days of negotiations
Unions and employers in Potsdam have been negotiating the incomes of 2.5 million workers in the third round of negotiations since Monday.
Discussions between negotiating leaders and consultations between individual collective bargaining partners continued to change. Many internal disclosures were needed in the Municipal Union of Employers’ Associations (VKA).
At least 500 Euros more per month
The Verdi union and the civil servants’ association dbb receive 10.5 percent more income, but demand at least 500 euros more per month.
This minimum amount is very important to them: For low income earners, it should compensate for high inflation. The VKA had long denied the minimum amount.
requests cannot be met
Employers had also rejected the demands as a whole, finding them unaffordable. Unions were outraged by the attitude of employers and have launched increasingly larger warning strikes in recent weeks.
Unions have paralyzed public transport with mass warning strikes, as well as nurseries, clinics and garbage disposals.
Verdi sees himself empowered by the large-scale warning strikes in recent weeks. Verdi boss Frank Werneke spoke of “the largest warning strike participation in many years and decades”. The syndicate has registered more than 70,000 entries in the last three months.
Income of more than 2.4 million salaried employees
Many professionals are affected by collective bargaining in the public sector, including educators, bus drivers, pool workers, firefighters, nurses, administrative workers, geriatric nurses, sewage treatment plant workers, foresters and doctors.
It’s about 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 transferred to the civil servants.
Source: ZDF
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