Warning strikes in several areas of the public sector
Almost two thirds of all teachers in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have been called out on an all-day warning strike today (7.30 a.m.). Parents and pupils can expect lessons to be canceled. The background to this is the ongoing wage dispute in the public sector. Around 700 state police employees are also being called to strike.
The same applies to road maintenance workers in the north-east. This could lead to staff shortages in winter road maintenance, warned the State Office for Road Construction and Transport. Slippery roads cannot be ruled out, especially in the morning hours. A demonstration is planned in Schwerin at 12.00 noon.
The call to strike only concerns non-civil servants. Civil servants are not allowed to strike. According to the GEW, around 8100 of the 13,450 teachers at the schools are not civil servants. Emergency care is to be provided at schools for primary and special needs pupils. According to the GdP, around 700 of the 6,000 employees of the state police force are not civil servants.
The unions are demanding a salary increase of 10.5 percent, but at least 500 euros, for the approximately 1.1 million public employees nationwide and indirectly also for the approximately 1.4 million civil servants. However, the collective bargaining association of the federal states (TdL), chaired by Hamburg's Finance Senator Andreas Dressel (SPD), made it clear in the second round of negotiations that it considers the demands to be far too high and unaffordable. The third round of negotiations is scheduled to begin on December 7.
The ongoing wage dispute in the public sector has also prompted trade unions representing state police employees to call for a warning strike, affecting over 700 officers. In response to the strikes, tariffs on certain public services might be considered to mitigate the impact, a measure that has been discussed in past trade disputes.
Source: www.dpa.com
