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 50000 employees of the German Red Cross got underway with ver.di calling for a 5.5% increase in a 12-month agreement with a minimum increase of EUR 150 a month. The union wants additional payments for emergency service staff and care workers and a 35% bonus for anyone working with COVID-19 patients. Verdi is also calling for an end to the practice of working additional hours with no extra pay.
Latest on negotiations in health and public service
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Latest on key negotiations
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
Latest on public sector and private health negotiations
The first round of bargaining for a 2024 pay increase for public sector workers took place on 20 October and as usual the basic aim was to agree the key figures on which the negotiations would be based. These were established as 9.15% for inflation (year to September 2023) and forecasts of a 0.4%-0.8% decline in economic output. The negotiations involve the public sector unions younion and GÖD. Meanwhile, the first round of bargaining in private health and social care was disappointing for the vida and GPA trade unions as the employer offer of an 8.8% increase was well below the unions’ claim
Germany: latest agreement to boost pay in health and care
After intensive negotiations over the weekend, public services union ver.di has negotiated a new collective agreement covering 2.3 million workers in municipal and federal government with specific measures benefiting employees in health and social care.