Patients have to prepare for another warning strike in the Potsdam clinic “Ernst von Bergmann”. The Marburger Bund trade union is calling for a nationwide all-day warning strike in municipal hospitals for next Tuesday. The state representation of the doctors’ union said that “Ernst von Bergmann” in Potsdam and the university hospital in Brandenburg an der Havel were affected.
The reason: The fourth collective bargaining round for the approximately 55,000 doctors at municipal clinics also remained unsuccessful. The two-day negotiations between the Marburger Bund and the Association of Municipal Employers’ Associations (VKA) made no progress, as both sides announced on Thursday in Berlin. The doctors’ union accused the employers of “stalling” and announced new warning strikes.
The Bergmann-Klinikum had already experienced several warning strikes this year because of the long unresolved wage conflict in the public sector. At the same time, the house currently has to be stabilized with millions in payments from the city of Potsdam, but is hoping for more money after the planned hospital reform of the traffic light coalition in Berlin.
A complicated tariff dispute
Collective bargaining for doctors is proving difficult: the Marburger Bund criticized the VKA again for not making a specific offer. Instead, the employers’ side provokes with considerations that would lead to significant income disadvantages for doctors, criticized the doctors’ union and warned of an escalation. Christian Twardy, chief negotiator of the Marburger Bund, announced further warning strikes with a central rally in Frankfurt am Main for Tuesday.
The employers, for their part, accused the union of a lack of willingness to compromise, which prevented a collective bargaining agreement. The municipal hospitals had promised inflation compensation of 3,000 euros for 2023 and “a significant increase in pay in 2024” for the medical profession, based on the recent agreement for federal and municipal public sector employees. VKA negotiator Wolfgang Heyl called the “threat” caused by new warning strikes “completely unacceptable”.
In the collective bargaining dispute that has been going on for months, the Marburger Bund is demanding inflation compensation for the months since October 2021 and an additional linear salary increase of two and a half percent for doctors in municipal clinics.
A fifth round of negotiations is planned for May 22nd. The hospital doctors in Berlin are not affected by this because an independent collective agreement was negotiated for them. (with AFP)
