Again warning strikes in the north-east: On Tuesday it hit around 40 day care centers and after-school care centers in West Mecklenburg. The Verdi union wants to put pressure on the ongoing negotiations. Verdi boss Werneke does not rule out a failure of the talks.
Schwerin (dpa / mv) – Parents of kindergarten children in West Mecklenburg had to come up with something on Tuesday: In around 40 daycare centers, employees took part in an all-day warning strike by the Verdi union. A good half of the daycare centers remained closed, said the responsible Verdi representative Diana Markiwitz. In others there was emergency care. There were also calls for work stoppages in four after-school care centers and one facility for the disabled.
There were warning strikes in Schwerin and in the districts of Northwest Mecklenburg and Ludwigslust-Parchim. According to the union, both municipal institutions and institutions of institutions that have adopted the collective agreement for public services or are based on it were affected.
Between 250 and 300 people took part in a rally and a subsequent demonstration on the state parliament and the Ministry of Education. In addition to the demands of the trade union in the current collective bargaining dispute in the public sector, demands were also made for better staffing of the day-care centers in order to improve the quality of care.
The warning strike was intended to increase the pressure on employers in the collective bargaining dispute in the public sector. Work stoppages are taking place across the country every day. Verdi is demanding 10.5 percent more salary for federal and local employees, but at least 500 euros more per month for a period of twelve months.
At the rally in Schwerin, Verdi national chairman Frank Werneke did not rule out the possibility of the negotiations failing. Union and employer are far apart, he said. The next hearing begins on March 27 and is scheduled to last three days. “From my point of view, it is completely open whether we will come to a result or whether that is the time when we have to decide whether the negotiations will fail. And then we, as Verdi, will initiate the ballot.”
Werneke criticized the employer’s offer in the second round of negotiations, among other things, for an “incredibly long” term of 27 months. Two small salary steps of 3 percent in October 2023 and 2 percent in April 2024 are offered. Employers ruled out a minimum increase for lower income groups, Werneke criticized. Higher income groups benefited particularly from the offered increase in annual performance. “It’s antisocial and the opposite of what we want,” said the Verdi boss.
The municipal employers’ association Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania criticized Tuesday’s warning strike as disproportionate. The offer is negotiable, explained association manager Carola Freier. In addition to the offered linear increase in wages, the offer to pay a tax and social security-free inflation compensation payment of 2,500 euros is on the table: 1,500 euros in May 2023 and a further 1,000 euros in January 2024.