Public sector strikes hit two more states
After initial strikes in the states of Hesse and Saarland on Monday, public workers' unions called temporary strikes for members in North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein on Tuesday.
Workers at university clinics, courts, ministries and municipal administrative offices, along with street maintenance crews and fire fighters, walked off the job in the populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The union members were expected to attend a midday demonstration in the state capital of Düsseldorf, where the chief of the public workers’ union Verdi, Frank Bsirske, was expected to speak about their bid to pressure employers into a wage increase.
In the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, the Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW) called a teachers’ strike at schools in Neumünster, Itzehoe, Flensburg and Pinneberg.
The GEW plans to join the GdP police trade union for a demonstration in front of the state Finance Ministry in Kiel at midday.
The strikes come after unions and employers failed to reach a wage agreement last Friday in Potsdam for some 600,000 public workers across the nation.
Unions have demanded an additional €50 per month plus a three-percent wage increase, in addition to a guarantee of employment for apprentices.
The next round of negotiations is scheduled for March 9 in Potsdam.
Additional strikes have been planned for Wednesday in the states of Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg and Bayern, and on Thursday in Lower Saxony and Bremen.
DAPD/DPA/The Local/ka
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Workers at university clinics, courts, ministries and municipal administrative offices, along with street maintenance crews and fire fighters, walked off the job in the populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The union members were expected to attend a midday demonstration in the state capital of Düsseldorf, where the chief of the public workers’ union Verdi, Frank Bsirske, was expected to speak about their bid to pressure employers into a wage increase.
In the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, the Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW) called a teachers’ strike at schools in Neumünster, Itzehoe, Flensburg and Pinneberg.
The GEW plans to join the GdP police trade union for a demonstration in front of the state Finance Ministry in Kiel at midday.
The strikes come after unions and employers failed to reach a wage agreement last Friday in Potsdam for some 600,000 public workers across the nation.
Unions have demanded an additional €50 per month plus a three-percent wage increase, in addition to a guarantee of employment for apprentices.
The next round of negotiations is scheduled for March 9 in Potsdam.
Additional strikes have been planned for Wednesday in the states of Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg and Bayern, and on Thursday in Lower Saxony and Bremen.
DAPD/DPA/The Local/ka
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