Childcare - Five-day warning strike in municipal daycare centers begins
Parents of up to 35,000 Kindergarten children in Berlin must find alternative care options this week. A five-day warning strike began at around 280 communal kindergartens, which the union Verdi has called for. With the prolonged standstill, the union aims to underpin its demand for better working conditions and thus higher educational quality. They are demanding a corresponding collective bargaining agreement from the state, in which regulations on group sizes and the balancing of burdens are to be anchored.
The Senate rejects this. "We can't just hold collective wage negotiations with regional unions," said the State Secretary for Youth and Family, Falko Liecke, to RBB24 Inforadio and referred to Berlin's membership in the Tarifgemeinschaft der Länder (TdL). This is being ignored by Verdi. In addition, there is a personnel quota regulated by the Kindergarten Promotion Law.
Union speaks of high-level participation
Verdi does not accept this. According to the responsible Ver.di-Gewerkschaftssekretärin Tina Böhmer, 2,000 to 3,000 kindergarten employees attended two demonstrations at the CDU Landesgeschäftsstelle and the Rathaus Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. "The level of participation in the warning strike remains unbroken at a high level," she told the German Press Agency. "Our colleagues are standing with us on our demands."
In the past few weeks, communal kindergartens in Berlin have been on strike for seven days. With the five-day strike, Verdi has intensified the action, which is causing concern for some parents.
About a tenth of the kindergartens are municipally run
Approximately ten percent of the around 2,900 kindergartens in Berlin belong to so-called municipal owned enterprises. There, around 7,000 kindergarten teachers and other employees care for approximately 35,000 children. The remaining institutions are run by free providers and are not currently on strike. In total, about 165,000 children attend Berlin kindergartens.
Verdi accuses the Senate of blocking a constructive solution in the interest of employees, parents, and children. "We have a dramatic crisis in the kindergartens, which will become even more dramatic if the Senate doesn't finally take care of relief now," said Dana Griesche, a pedagogical expert in the municipal kindergarten in Südost, according to Verdi.
Senator Evers finds kindergarten warning strikes senseless
Finance Senator Stefan Evers (CDU) recently spoke of "senseless strikes on the backs of children and parents." According to his statements, the Land Berlin cannot negotiate a corresponding collective bargaining agreement. Evers argues that Berlin is a member of the TdL and cannot make decisions on tariff-legal matters alone.
The Verband Bildung und Erziehung (VBE) Berlin is supporting him. The Landeselternausschuss Kita Berlin, which represents the interests of all parents of kindergarten children according to its own statements, criticized the warning strikes most recently as inappropriate.
- Despite the five-day warning strike at around 280 communal kindergartens, led by the union Verdi, Falko Liecke, the State Secretary for Youth and Family, stated that collective wage negotiations cannot be held with regional unions due to Berlin's membership in the Tarifgemeinschaft der Länder (TdL).
- Verdi, the union representing kindergarten employees, reported high levels of participation in the warning strike, with around 2,000 to 3,000 employees participating in demonstrations at the CDU Landesgeschäftsstelle and the Rathaus Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.
- The Senator for Finance, Stefan Evers (CDU), criticized the kindergarten warning strikes, referring to them as "senseless strikes on the backs of children and parents," and arguing that Berlin cannot make decisions on tariff-legal matters alone.
- Approximately 35,000 children in Kindergartens run by municipal enterprises are impacted by the ongoing strike, with about 10% of all Berlin Kindergartens falling under this category.
- The United Services Union, also known as Verdi, has accused the Senate of blocking a constructive solution in the best interests of employees, parents, and children, stating that "we have a dramatic crisis in the kindergartens, which will become even more dramatic if the Senate doesn't finally take care of relief now."
