The municipal employers have asked Verdi boss Frank Werneke to work seriously on arbitration in the deadlocked wage dispute in the public sector.
“Unfortunately, I’m gradually getting the impression that Verdi boss Frank Werneke is more interested in further labor disputes,” said the chief negotiator for the municipalities, Gelsenkirchen’s mayor Karin Welge, of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “However, such an escalation would be inconsiderate towards the citizens of this country,” warned the President of the Association of Municipal Employers’ Associations (VKA).
It’s time for the collective bargaining partners to finally come up with a joint result. This is necessary “to protect the country and the population from further widespread strikes,” said Welge.
No warning strikes until mid-April
The federal and local authorities initiated arbitration on Thursday after not being able to reach an agreement with the unions in the third round of collective bargaining. As of this Sunday, there is a peace obligation for the time of the arbitration. The arbitration commission, which is expected to have 24 members, is expected to meet by next Thursday.
After the failure of the third round, Werneke had again announced warning strikes in some areas until the beginning of the peace obligation. Werneke spoke in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” above all about information formats, not about paralyzing entire administrations or companies. There will be no more warning strikes until around mid-April. On the one hand, Werneke had emphasized that Verdi was going into the arbitration constructively. But the Verdi boss also said: “If the result of the arbitration and the subsequent renewed negotiations are not sufficient, we would have to decide on a nationwide strike.”
The Verdi trade union and the civil servants’ association dbb are demanding 10.5 percent more income, but at least 500 euros more per month for the 2.5 million employees in the public sector at federal and local level. The employers offered 8 percent more income and a minimum amount of 300 euros – plus a tax-free one-off payment of 3,000 euros with a payment of 1,750 euros in May.
