Nurses stop strike at the Charité

Charité: Nurses and nurses stop strike for the time being

06.05.2011

As of today, nurses, nurses and technical staff want to resume work at the University Hospital Charité Berlin. „The strike is suspended for the time being“, it says from the union side. The clinic management has submitted a new tariff offer to the striking employees. The negotiators on both sides want to resume collective bargaining.

New rate offer ends dispute for the time being
Since the Monday morning shift, around 2,000 employees and employees of the Charité have been in the labor dispute. After exactly five days of the strike, the management has submitted a new offer to the unions Verdi and dbb Tarifunion. After this much better bargaining offer, new talks are now being held. From Friday, all nurses and technical staff will resume work and finish the strike. On the union side, employers' offerings were advised until late in the evening, as a Verdi spokesman said today.

Both unions demand a gross salary increase of at least € 300 per month for all nursing and technical staff. „With such an increase, the nationwide level of nursing staff could be achieved. The Charité reimburses about 14 percent less than other clinics in Berlin“, said a union spokesman.

200 euros more and further wage adjustments
According to the negotiators, the employers had renewed their offer early in the morning. The employers' side wants to increase the fees by 200 euros per month in two steps until July 1, 2012, and in addition to make a general income adjustment to the tariff level of the public service of the municipal employers. This adjustment should be implemented by the end of 2014 at the latest, as emphasized by the negotiating group of employers.

The union side was confident about the concessions. The strikers were by their commitment and their stamina a long way to arrive. „The colleagues have been decisive in their readiness to fight“, said dbb negotiator Arne Goodson. The pressure on the hospital management could have moved the employer side again to offers. The employees „have built up so much pressure at the three Charité locations that we've really come a long way now.“

Final results are expected over the next week. For patients the termination of the strike means a resumption of the clinic's daily routine. Since many of the outstanding tasks have to be made up first, some bottlenecks at the Charité can continue. (Sb)

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Picture: Karl-Heinz Liebisch