A warning strike by educators in Rostock daycare centers posed challenges for many parents in the Hanseatic city on Tuesday. The GEW union had called for a warning strike in around 40 daycare centers, and according to the union, around 300 educators took part. With the action, the GEW wanted to put pressure on the ongoing collective bargaining dispute in the public sector. The unions are demanding 10.5 percent more wages, but at least 500 euros more per month. The employer side has so far offered five percent more money in two steps and one-off payments totaling 2,500 euros. The third round of negotiations is scheduled for March 27-29 in Potsdam.
Emergency care was planned in most daycare centers of the DRK Rostock Kinder- und Jugendhilfe gGmbH, said a DRK spokeswoman. In some cases, however, the parents would have taken care of alternative care for their children in advance. Facilities of the ASB coastal children e.V. were also affected.
According to the police, around 600 people demonstrated on the Neuer Markt in the afternoon. There, the GEW was concerned with improving working conditions – with more staff and smaller groups in the daycare centers.
In the state parliament in Schwerin, the child day support law of the state was changed almost at the same time. This clears the way for hiring 260 new employees in the facilities, said Education Minister Simone Oldenburg (left). This is how it should work: In the future, the educator trainees in the day-care centers should no longer be included in the calculation of the position plans as part-time specialists in the first two years. So far, an apprentice has been considered 30 percent skilled in the first year and 40 percent in the second year. In the third year it is 50 percent and this should remain so for the time being for cost reasons. That means: Two trainees in their third year replace one trained educator.
