Company policy and EWCs, Strike, Germany
Trade unions set up global union network in German multinational Fresenius active in care and renal dialysis
The German company Fresenius active across the global in care, renal dialysis and medical products is quickly building a reputation of a company that does not respect its workers.
Strikers defy hospital's anti-strike threats
Over 200 staff at the Schildautal hospital in Seesen in Lower Saxony took strike action on 4 October in defiance of threats from management that they would be dismissed. The hospital is owned by Asklepios, the second biggest private hospital group in Germany. The health union ver.di wants to negotiate a collective agreement that would bring pay in line with the public sector. However, the company not only refuses to negotiate but has threatened strikers with the sack and promised bonuses to strike breakers. The recent ver.di congress sent a message of solidarity to workers at the hospital.
Union condemns health company's anti-strike actions
Workers at the Schildautal hospital in Seesen in Lower Saxony are continuing their strike action to secure a collective agreement despite management's aggressive anti-strike measures (see EPSU Collective Bargaining News 19, October). Public services union ver.di has condemned the hospital owners, Askeplios, for failing to agree a minimum service agreement, threatening workers with the sack and offering strike-breaking bonuses. Further action was taken on 1 November despite the employer's intimidation and on the basis of the union's own proposal for minimum service.
Health workers strike despite intimidation
Workers at the Ameos private, for-profit health company in the Saxony-Anhalt region are taking strike action despite the aggressive intimidation of the company's management. The union wants to negotiate a collective agreement which links workers' pay and conditions to the public sector agreement. Not only have management refused to negotiate but they sacked 14 trade union activists before Christmas and are threatening a further 800 job cuts if the union contnues its campaign. EPSU joined with ver.di in launching a labourstart campaign, targeting the company management.
Strikes and solidarity push health company to negotiate
Strike action, a major demonstration, political support and international solidarity have combined to bring the Ameos health company to the negotiating table. Members of the ver.di services union have been on strike to get a collective agreement and the reinstatement of 14 colleagues who were sacked at the end of last year by the management of Ameos in the Saxony-Anhalt region. International solidarity was channelled through a labourstart campaign with over 6300 signatures calling on the company to negotiate. The strike action has now been suspended to allow time for negotiations which were
Warning strikes under way in federal and local government
Service union ver.di has launched warning strikes across federal and local government to put pressure on the employers following the second round of bargaining. The union reports that the two-day meeting was a waste of time with no offer from the employers and no real appreciation or recognition of the work done by public sector employees. The employers have indicated that they will come up with an offer before the next round of negotiations which are due on 22-23 October. However, ver.di is not expecting much as on one key issue - equalisation of working time between Eastern and Western
First ever national strike in church-based eldercare
Workers in the Liebenau Leben im Alter (LLA) non-profit eldercare provider, part of the church-based Caritas network, have taken strike action for the first time in a campaign to get a collective agreement. There are around 1.8 million workers in church-based health and social care providers where pay and conditions are set by the employer rather than by collective agreement. Last year just four ver.di members began to organise in LLA but the union now has 240 members in the organisation who want their employer to recognise the work they have been doing during the pandemic and bring their pay
Strike planned for Berlin hospitals
The ver.di services union has called a three-day warning strike from 23 August in the hospitals in Berlin run by the regional government’s Charité group, including its Vivantes subsidiaries. The union gave the employer 100 days to initiate collective bargaining to tackle overwork by hospital employees and trainees and to bring pay in line with the public service collective agreement in all Vivantes subsidiaries. The strike will go ahead if the deadline of 20 August is missed. Ver.di says that Charité has failed to make any serious offer and it has called on the employer to conclude agreements
Union welcomes strike ruling and calls for negotiations
The ver.di services union has welcomed the decision of the Berlin labour court to reject an application for an injunction to block a planned strike in the health sector. Ver.di members at the Vivantes and Charité health providers in Berlin had been waiting 100 days for management to respond to calls to negotiate a collective agreement, planning strike action at the end of August if the employer missed the union’s deadline. The union had established a clear plan to prepare for the strike and the workers that would be involved but had to postpone the action for a day in order to attend the
Health insurance workers take action
Service union ver.di organised warning strikes in the statutory health insurance providers, AOK and BARMER on 8 February. The aim was to put pressure on the employers during negotiations that cover around 75,000 employees in the two companies. For workers in AOK ver.di is demanding a 5.9% increase and a minimum rise of €200 in a 12-month agreement. The employer wants a 24-month agreement with only a lump sum of €800 in March 2022 and a 1.2% in January 2023. Ver.di is also concerned that there are moves to exclude one AOK region from coverage of the agreement and is challenging the unilateral