Contract for student assistants: Letter to Vorjohann
In an open letter to the Saxon Minister of Finance, trade unions and the Green Youth have drawn attention to the precarious situation of student employees. Respect means receiving a good wage and good working conditions, wrote the youth representatives of the Greens, DGB, Verdi GEW and Juso university groups to Finance Minister Hartmut Vorjohann (CDU) on Thursday. "Such agreements can only be reached at eye level with a collective agreement".
The organizations demanded that the Minister of Finance deal with the reality of student employees' lives. "If you claim that BAföG and alimony finance studies, you are misjudging two thirds of working students who have to secure their livelihood with paid work," the letter reads.
On November 20, around 900 people in Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz demanded a collective agreement for student assistants at universities. According to GEW, there are around 7,000 student employees in Saxony. The union is demanding 10.5 percent and at least 500 euros more pay as part of the collective bargaining round. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for December 7. The day before, the unions have called for further warning strikes and a rally in front of the Saxon Ministry of Finance.
The Green Youth, DGB, Verdi GEW, and Juso university groups argued in their letter to Finance Minister Vorjohann that tariffs and better working conditions are crucial for student employees in the context of a collective agreement. In light of these demands, trade unions like GEW are pushing for higher tariffs and increased pay, potentially impacting the budget for public service and affecting political parties' decisions on education policies.
Source: www.dpa.com
