Employees of clinics, care facilities and the rescue service in Hamburg went on a two-day warning strike on Tuesday. Around 1,700 people took part in the work stoppages in Hamburg, as Verdi State Department Head Health Hilke Stein said. Around 1,000 employees took part in a rally in front of the trade union building at Besenbinderhof. Many carried banners and posters with them or wrapped themselves in gold-colored rescue blankets in accordance with the motto “Health is worth its weight in gold and so are we”.
The background to the warning strikes is the collective bargaining conflict in the public sector at the federal and local levels. The warning strikes in Hamburg last until the end of the late shift.
Health care workers also stopped working in other regions of Germany on Tuesday. According to union information, around 13,000 employees are to go on strike nationwide. The employees followed a nationwide strike call for workers in hospitals, psychiatric clinics, care facilities and the emergency services. The warning strikes continue on Wednesday – in the north not only in Hamburg, but also, for example, at the municipal hospital in Kiel.
According to the Verdi trade union, hospitals and service companies of the Asklepios Kliniken and the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) were among those affected by the warning strikes in Hamburg. According to union information, most of the participants in the warning strike – around 600 – came from the UKE.
The UKE informed patients about the campaigns on its website. Medical care is also secured during the warning strike, it said – both on the wards and for newly arriving emergencies.
The union is demanding 10.5 percent more wages, but at least 500 euros more per month, for around 2.5 million employees in the federal and local public services nationwide. The employer side has so far offered five percent more money in two steps and one-off payments of 2500 euros. The third round of negotiations is scheduled for March 27-29 in Potsdam.
