Germany
(February 2017) Services union ver.di has been organising warning strikes and protests to demonstrate the level of support for its negotiations with the regional government employers. Ver.di, along with the education and police trade unions, is seeking a 6% pay increase. The union says that pay trends since 2000 have created a gap of more than 10% between regional government employees and industrial sector workers.
The ver.di services union is organising action by regional government workers around the country in support of its negotiating position. The second round of bargaining covering 1.1 million workers ended on 2 November without a result and no pay offer from the TdL association of regional government employers. The union is looking for a 5% pay increase with a minimum increase of €150 but rising to €300 for health workers. Ver.di is astonished that the employers fail to recognise the efforts made by regional government workers, particularly health and care workers, during the pandemic.
(September 2016) Services union ver.di organised warning strikes and a national protest in Berlin against Germany's largest rehabilitation company, Reha. The company gave notice in August that it was ending the current collective agreement and wanted to move to enterprise-level agreements. The union has attacked the company for being a major recipient of public money while denying rights to its workforce. Ver.di is calling for a new agreement and an 8% pay increase covering the 2700 workers institutions in the Eastern region of the company.
Services union ver.di is organising warning strikes across the country in the lead-up to the third round of negotiations covering federal and local government which are due to begin on 15 April. With no concrete pay offer from the employers at the second round of negotiations, ver.di argues that the warning strikes are needed to put pressure on them to take a constructive approach at the bargaining table. The union wants a pay rise of 6% with a EUR 200 a month minimum increase to help the low paid. For ver.di it is crucial to increase pay to make jobs in the sector more attractive and keep pay