Self-owned businesses - Kita-Strikes: Verdi gives warning for next weeks
Union Verdi will not call for another warning strike in Berlin's kindergarten self-managed businesses in the coming weeks. Andrea Kühnenmann, Verdi chief for Berlin and Brandenburg, told the "Tagesspiegel" paper. When asked about Verdi's prospects for the summer holidays, Kühnenmann replied: "I can give reassurance for the next few weeks." A Verdi spokesperson confirmed, upon inquiry, that no further warning strikes are planned in Berlin's kindergarten self-managed businesses in the coming weeks.
Verdi has been on strike at Berlin's kindergarten self-managed businesses since Monday and until this morning. The union aims to put pressure on the state for higher educational quality and relief. Verdi demands a corresponding collective bargaining agreement from the state, which should include provisions on group sizes and compensation for burdens. The Senate rejects this with reference to Berlin's membership in the collective bargaining community of German states. Verdi accuses the Senate of blocking a constructive solution in the interest of employees, parents, and children.
Approximately 35,000 children are cared for in Berlin's self-managed businesses.
"Because he (the Senate) refuses to talk constructively with us, he is also responsible for the current strikes," Kühnenmann told the "Tagesspiegel." With a strike pause, the union wants to "give all parties the opportunity to reconsider their blockade stance." "It was also important to us that the older children had one last chance to see each other and bid farewell before going to school," Kühnenmann added.
About ten percent of the roughly 2,900 kindergartens in Berlin belong to so-called communal self-managed businesses. In these, around 7,000 childcare workers and other employees care for approximately 35,000 children. The remaining institutions are run by free providers and are not currently being struck. In total, about 165,000 children attend Berlin's kindergartens.
- The "Tagesspiegel" reported on Andrea Kühnenmann's statement, who is the Verdi chief for Berlin and Brandenburg, indicating that there will be no more warning strikes in Berlin's kindergarten self-managed businesses in the near future.
- In the midst of Verdi's ongoing strike at Berlin's kindergarten self-managed businesses, the United Services Trade Union (Verdi) has placed emphasis on better educational quality and relief, with the aim of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement from the state regarding group sizes and compensation for burdens.
- Despite the ongoing strike, about 165,000 children in total attend kindergartens in Berlin, with approximately 35,000 children cared for in self-managed businesses, which include around 7,000 childcare workers and other employees.
- The Trade Union, Verdi, has expressed its intention to pause the strike, giving all parties an opportunity to reassess their positions, aiming to create a constructive solution that benefits the employees, parents, and children involved in the self-managed kindergartens in Berlin.
