Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – The North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament has cleared the way for the collective bargaining agreement that has been sought by the employees of the six NRW university clinics for months. With the votes of the new black-green coalition and the SPD and AfD parliamentary groups, the plenary passed the amendment to the NRW Higher Education Act on Wednesday. Only the FDP voted against the change in the law. It is the legal prerequisite for the university hospitals to be able to withdraw from the employers’ association of the federal states (AdL) and conduct independent collective bargaining with the Verdi trade union.
It is still questionable whether there will be an agreement between the employees, who have been on strike for the ninth week, and the hospitals in the conflict over better working conditions that has been going on for months. The parties are irreconcilable.
The conflict escalated even further on Wednesday. According to Verdi, even after 15 days of negotiations, the employers show no willingness to cooperate and reject the core demands of the employees. So far, employers have only made an offer for time off in lieu for the staff directly employed in bedside care. All other areas are to be left out in a collective bargaining agreement.
