Charité Since 6.00 clock strike the nurses

Caregivers and technical staff laid down work at the Charité and demand a uniform wage

02/05/2011

Since today's morning hours, around 1,500 nurses, technical staff and cleaners have been on indefinite strike at the Charité University Hospital and the Virchow-Klinikum in Berlin. The strike has begun at 6:00 am, according to the services union Verdi. Two demonstrations are planned for the afternoon. Already in advance, several hundred beds of the approximately 3200 hospital beds were no longer occupied to prevent supply bottlenecks. The operation in the emergency rooms is not set, however, patients must be prepared for very long waiting times, since the occupation of the weekend shifts is similar. Patients are asked to switch to other hospitals.

Only emergency operations
Already last Friday, the hospital management had announced that not urgently necessary medical appointments will be postponed. This applies to all surgery appointments that were originally planned for the course of the week. The shifts happened in consultation with the affected patients. Since no agreement is currently in sight, the Charité is preparing for a longer standout of the employees. Since the beginning of the morning shift at 6:00 am, nurses, technical staff and cleaners are on permanent strike. A total of 1500 sisters, nurses and employees strike. Hundreds of treatments, diagnostic tests and therapies are canceled as a result of the strike. The Senate of Berlin and the hospital management have asked the fire brigades and rescue centers to send emergency patients to other clinics. For acute cases, which can only be treated in the Charité due to the equipment of the clinic, an emergency service agreement was made. The agreement was signed Friday between the union and management. Affected by the labor dispute are all areas of the three Campi Center, Virchow and Benjamin Franklin including emergency rooms, functional areas, intensive care units and operation units. In addition, all service areas of the CFM strike.

300 euros more salary to receive nationwide collective wage
About 13,000 Berliners and Brandenburgers work in the state-owned Charité. Each year, around 500,000 people are treated on an outpatient basis and around 130,000 patients are treated on an outpatient or semi-stationary basis. In addition to the university hospital are also the employees of the subsidiary „Charité Facility Management“ (CFM) entered a permanent strike. The strike affects around 2,500 employees of the company. The CFM is responsible for transports and the in-house security of the clinic. According to Verdi, the employees of the subsidiary are paid far less than the main employees of the hospital group. Some employees receive only a gross wage of 5.50 euros per hour. After deducting taxes and health insurance, there is little left over from the earnings. A normal nurse receives after about ten years of employment, despite shift services at night and on weekends less than 2500 euros gross. However, the strikers demand at least 2800 euros per month, that is 300 euros more. According to Verdi, the increase would be in line with the industry standard collective wage. „Not the strike, but the normal conditions at the clinic endanger the patients“, said a unionist.

Charité heavily in debt
For many years, the Charité is in debt in the millions. Last year, the hospital chief Karl Max Einhäupl presented an annual balance of minus 17.8 million euros. Although the figures were still red in 2010, the annual result was better than in previous years. For the current year, the red-red Senate demands a balanced result. At least the Charité should write a black zero for 2011. Because of the savings, the clinic could hardly respond to the demands of employees, the medical director of the clinic, Ulrich Frei, had stressed on Friday. Very well, but you have understanding for the demands of the staff. However, one would be in the „Vise between the concerns of employees and the policy requirements“. The offer currently submitted by the unions can therefore not be accepted. The Senate had announced that it would not interfere in collective bargaining. You stand "but in close contact" with both sides.

Demonstrations planned in the afternoon
In the afternoon, the strikers want to hold a demonstration. The demo starts at 3.30 pm on the campus of the Charité Berlin-Mitte and at the same time at the Virchow-Klinikum in Berlin-Wedding. Both trains then want to take a protest train through the city center and unite at the rally at the intersection Müllerstraße / Fennstraße in Wedding. The meeting will be followed by a rally at 4.30 pm, at which the demands of the staff will be made and justified. (Sb)

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Strike in the Berlin Charité

Picture: Copyright Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin