Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner sees no possibility of negotiations with the unions on a collective agreement for better working conditions in the city’s daycare centers. Berlin is a member of the collective bargaining association of the states, said the CDU politician on Monday at an event at the Max Planck Institute for Educational Research. “And then there is the demand from Verdi and others that the state of Berlin should now draw up its own collective agreement. I can only warn against this,” he explained.
The educators have also benefited from the collective bargaining association in the past. When Berlin discusses the issue with other states, it is said that if it creates its own collective agreement, it will be thrown out. “I would not want that to happen,” said Wegner. “We are in discussions about how we can improve the situation locally. We will not enter into collective bargaining,” he stressed. “I cannot do that because it would have negative effects.”
“There are no applications”
“We have known for a very, very long time that the situation in daycare centers for educators is anything but satisfactory, unfortunately,” he added. In talks with Verdi, he pointed out the difficult situation on the labor market. “It’s not that we don’t want to hire, it’s just that there are no applications,” said the Governing Mayor. “And then we have to see: How can we improve the situation?”
Wegner announced further talks with the education administration and the finance administration on the subject, about which he would be informed. The Verdi and GEW unions have called for another one-day warning strike at the city’s daycare centers and a central rally in front of the Red City Hall on Thursday.
They are demanding a so-called relief collective agreement that would guarantee better working conditions in daycare centers. In order to increase the pressure, a ballot vote is to decide on an indefinite strike.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240916-930-234367/1
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