Staffing levels, Energy, Germany

(March 2017) Services union ver.di has negotiated a new two-year agreement with the AVEU employers' organisation covering over 100 small firms in the energy and waste sectors, employing around 19000 workers and some 1600 apprentices. The 2.5% pay increase is from 1 March and early next year there will be a lump sum payment of EUR 600. The increase is ahead of or in line with others in the industry, such as ENGIE (1.9% from January) and AVE Hessen (2% from February) and Energie Südwest (2.45% from February). The union highlights the increases for apprentices.

After lengthy negotations, services union ver.di has endorsed a new agreement with the Uniper energy company that it will put to its members over the coming weeks. Key elements of the deal are commitments to no compulsory redundancies and to an early retirement scheme, seen by ver.di as important for the company's coal-powered operations that will face restructuring. This part of the agreement will run to 2022 while the long-term pay deal will run to 2024. The union prevented the company from cutting bonuses like Christmas pay but performance pay will be ended. In 2018 workers will get a lump

Member of the services union ver.di working in several hospitals across the country took strike action on 19 September as part of the union's campaign on safe staffing levels and reducing workloads. EPSU general secretary Jan Willem Goudriaan sent a message of support, underlining the importance of protecting the well-being of both health workers and patients by taking urgent action to reduce staff shortages in the sector estimated at over 160000, including over 70000 frontline care workers.

Energy workers in France and Germany have taken or are planning action over pay and privatisation. In Germany, warning strikes have helped deliver a 3% pay increase for 17000 private sector energy workers in the Baden-Württemberg region. There will also be a EUR 70 increase for apprentices and additional holiday pay specifically for ver.di members. Energy workers in France took action on 8 February as part of a long-running protest over the fall in purchasing power in the sector with a demand to re-open pay negotiations. A strike is also planned for 15 March in opposition to proposals to sell

Members of the ver.di services union have secured pay increases following action in both the health and energy sectors. After more than a year in dispute, the union has managed to negotiate a new pay deal for workers at the CFM facilities management company. Around 1600 low paid workers will benefit from a basic pay rate of EUR 11 an hour which will mean increases worth 10%-16%. The union will be building on the solidarity maintained over the course of the dispute in preparation for next year's bargaining round which will begin no later than 1 July. In the energy sector 4500 employees at EON

Services and energy union ver.di along with the IGBCE union organised warning strikes on 15 and 16 January in the Uniper energy company to put pressure on the employer to come up with a better pay offer. The unions want a 6.8% pay increase over a 12 month period plus a EUR 160 increase for trainees. So far Uniper has offered only 1.8% in March 2019 and 2.2% in 2020. The unions say this would be effectively a cut in pay in real terms and if the company doesn't improve its offer then all-out strikes would be considered.

The fourth round of bargaining at the Uniper energy company ended with the signing of a new two-year agreement backdated to 1 January 2019. The 5000 employees will get an initial increase of 2.4% followed by a further 3.2% in December. Apprentice payments will increase by 15.5%. Energy union ver.di is pleased with the deal which it says would not have been possible without the mobilisation of workers and warning strikes.

The first pay offer from the employers in the AVEU regional negotiations covering mainly energy companies is some way off the pay claim submitted by the unions. Services union ver.di is aiming for a 6.1% pay increase over 12 months with a EUR 150 a month increase for trainees. The union conducted a broad consultation of members and there was clear support for a pay rise that compensated for inflation and increased productivity and that would give workers a share of the economic success of companies in the sector. In contrast, the employers have offered a 27-month deal with two increases of 2.1

The ver.di and IG BCE energy unions have negotiated a new 18-month agreement covering around 20000 workers. The TG Energie negotiations include EON Energie and a range of other electricity and gas companies. The main element of the agreement is a 3.7% pay increase. There will also be a 75 EURO a month increase for trainees along with a commitment that they will be offered a job once they successfully complete their training. This commitment will be in force until 2022.

Public services union ver.di has negotiated a new pay deal with waste and recycling company Schönmackers. The company has 1500 employees and operates in the North Rhine Westphalia region. The agreement includes a pay increase of 3.6% from March 2020 and a further 1.3% from August 2021. There is an EUR 80 increase on trainee pay and the agreement runs to the end of January 2022. Meanwhile there is no progress in the GWE negotiations covering 7700 energy and water workers in the same region. Ver.di has rejected as completely inadequate a pay offer over 28 months that would equate to only 1.75%

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

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

Following three rounds of bargaining, services union ver.di has negotiated a new 25-month agreement with the RWE energy company. The agreement covers 20000 workers and provides for a 2% pay rise from 1 March this year and a further 1.7% from 1 April next year. There will also be a EUR 1000 lump sum for full-time workers and proportionate amount for part timers. Apprentices will get EUR 600. In addition, ver.di members only will get an extra two days’ holiday a year.

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