COVID-19, South East European Energy Community, Germany

22 October saw public services union ver.di involved in two major negotiations. The third round of bargaining covering municipal and federal employees was underway with ver.di underlining the importance of a decent settlement in recognition of the work carried out by public service workers during the current pandemic. The union expects the employers to continue to stress the problems facing public finance and to push for a long-term deal with small pay increases. Ver.di mobilised through warning strikes and online action in the lead up to the negotiations. Meanwhile, negotiations covering

Ver.di and other public service unions have negotiated what is seen as respectable deal in a challenging bargaining environment that delivers a 1.4% pay rise for all workers on 1 April 2021 with a further 1.8% increase in April 2022. The agreement runs until 21 December 2022. The pay increase in 2021 is backed with a 50 Euro a month minimum which means that the lowest paid workers will see pay increase by 2.59%. Meanwhile, nursing staff will get 70 Euros a month additional payment from March 2021, rising to 120 Euros in 2022. Other payments for health and care workers include an increase in

Following a government report on nursing and care, services union ver.di has called for urgent action for a long-term solution to understaffing across health and care institutions, particularly in light of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In conjunction with hospital and care associations the union has already put forward a process for assessing staffing needs in hospitals and says that an academic proposal for evaluating staffing levels in eldercare has identified the need for an extra 100000 staff. Ver.di argues that measures are needed on training and pay and working conditions. It

The ver.di health union has welcomed parliamentary approval of the EUR 1500 COVID-19 bonus for all workers in elder care. This is important to ensure that all regions allocate funding to cover the payments following debate on how the bonus would be funded. Ver.di has also been critical of the private companies in the sector making high profits but unwilling to cover the full cost of the payment. The union says that it is still negotiating a new collective agreement with the BVAP employers’ organisation that it hopes will address the long-standing problem of low pay and poor working conditions

Progress with collective bargaining in the public sector has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Around 2.1 million workers are covered by the agreement for Federal and Municipal government which was last negotiated in 2018 and runs until 31 August this year. The trade union ver.di convened its collective bargaining committee earlier this month where it postponed the decision to formally give notice on the end of the agreement which would start negotiations. There will be an opening discussion with the VKA employers' organisation on 16 June and the collective bargaining committee will

The ver.di services union has given notice of the end of the current agreement covering 2.3 million workers in federal and municipal government on 31 August. This confirms that negotiations will get underway and the union is looking for an appropriate pay increase to recognise the hard work done by its members particularly during the current crisis. At a meeting with employers earlier this month there had been a discussion about the possibility of postponing bargaining until next year and giving all workers a lump sum payment this year as an interim measure. However, the union says the

The German subsidiary of the Veolia environmental services multinational has agreed to set up a €1 million pandemic fund after negotiations with the ver.di trade union. The fund will be available until the end of 2020 and will provide financial support of up to €10000 to workers who have been affected by COVID-19. The employees who could benefit include workers with children under 12 who can't find childcare, single parents, workers with other care responsibilities and who have been through family bereavements. The company implemented a short-time working agreement and topped up the funding

Around 30000 mainly energy workers covered by the AVEU collective agreement will get a 3.8% pay rise over the next two years. Pay will rise by 2.3% from 1 June 2021 and by 1.5% from 1 November 2022 (trainees get two increases of EU 50). The agreement runs for 27 months until 31 August 2023. There will also be a corona payment of EUR 600 paid by January 2022 at the latest with a pro-rata amount for part-time employees and EUR 300 for apprentices. All union members are to get two days off to attend specialist events and training courses. The AVEU agreement covers around 130 companies in Eastern

After the third round of bargaining, the ver.di services union has secured a new 24-month agreement covering around 21,000 employees at the clinic operator Helios. There will be a 3.8% increase in total with a 1.4% rise in April this year, 2.0% in April 2022 and a further 0.4 percent in November 2022. Employees will also receive a EUR 400 corona bonus (trainees EUR 100) as well as an additional day off in recognition of the extra work during the pandemic. Working hours at the eastern German Helios locations will be reduced to the western level from January 1, 2023. A care allowance of EUR 100

Public services union ver.di reports on a new agreement covering 6000 workers employed by energy companies in the Hesse region in central Germany. The union says that the employers were aiming for an agreement below that negotiated in the public sector but the union resisted this and negotiated a 2.6% pay increase which will be paid in two stages (2.1% in June 2021 and 0.5% in June 2022). The payment for trainees will be increased by EUR 50. In addition, there will be a Corona bonus of EUR 900 for those in pay scales 1-9 and EUR 700 for those in 10-14 while trainees will get EUR 350. The

The ver.di trade union has warned of problems being created in childcare institutions because of a lack of clarity and consistency in rules that should apply during the current pandemic. The union says that it isn’t right to leave it up to parents and the local management of childcare facilities to decide on their own rules and this fails to ensure planned approach to address the incidence of the virus among children and the increase in sickness among staff. Ver.di argues that the plan adopted by the city of Bremen provides a good example of what is needed to be negotiated at national level in

While welcoming the proposal to pay care staff a bonus for their work in the fight against COVID-19, the ver.di services union warns that current plans could exclude some workers who were exposed to high levels of stress during the pandemic. The union says that it is appropriate for the Ministry of Health to set rules for how the bonus is distributed to avoid variations in payment across different employers. However, there is a risk that some caregivers will lose out along with large groups of workers in the emergency services, psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation clinics and in disability

Around 35000 energy workers are getting a 2.3% pay increase backdated to 1 January. This is part of a 27-month agreement that runs until 31 March 2023 with a second pay rise of 1.5% in June 2022. Apprentices will get increases of EUR 50 in 2021 and EUR 45 next year. In March this year employees will get a EUR 1000 on-off payment (EUR 600 for apprentices) in recognition of their work during the pandemic. The agreement also commits employers to offer jobs to all apprentices who pass their training at least until 2024. The agreement covers various companies in the EON and TenneT groups and was