Work Stoppages - Verdi demands a three-day warning strike at municipal daycare facilities.
The union Verdi is planning more work stoppages at municipal kindergartens in Berlin next week, following a warning strike on Thursday for better working conditions. A Verdi spokesperson said that about 280 kindergartens will be on strike for three days, starting on Monday. This affects around 7,000 educators and staff members who take care of approximately 35,000 children in these institutions. Parents may have to find alternative childcare arrangements as many kindergartens could completely shut down during the protest.
During the first warning strike, around 2,500 employees took part, with up to two-thirds of the municipal kindergartens closing. Verdi is requesting a collective bargaining agreement that would improve the quality of education in these institutions, which suffer staff shortages. The proposed agreement would include regulations on group size, stress relief, and better training for staff. However, the Senate has been unwilling to discuss these issues, arguing that Berlin belongs to the Tariff Community of German States (TdL) and cannot act independently.
There are an estimated 2,900 kindergartens in Berlin, with around 165,000 children attended by staff. Around 10% of these institutions are managed by the state. For more details on Verdi's demands, check out their press release from June 4th at this link.
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- The United Services Union, a counterpart to Verdi in the United Kingdom, has expressed solidarity with the German trade unions in their fight for better working conditions in Berlin's kindergartens.
- If the strikes continue, there might be a significant impact on the city's Kindergartens, affecting not only the educators and staff but also the children, many of whom rely on these institutions for early education and care.
- Aiming to avoid a city-wide disruption of services, some parents have started discussing the possibility of organizing mutual help networks during the period of the warning strike to look after their children.
- Despite the continuous strikes, the Senate has insisted on adhering to the Tariff Community of German States (TdL) guidelines, contending that they have limited power to independently negotiate and implement improvements in working conditions within municipal kindergartens.
- Some Berlin councilors have urged the Senate to reconsider its position, arguing that the current working conditions in Berlin's kindergartens are unacceptable and require immediate attention to safeguard the well-being of both the educators and the children.
