Verdi is calling on the employees of the Munich waste management company (AWM) to go on an all-day warning strike this Friday. As the union reports, all areas are affected, especially garbage collection, recycling centers and workshops.
The background is therefore a conflict with the Bavarian Municipal Employers’ Association (KAV) over a regulation of partial retirement. In the collective bargaining round for the public sector in spring 2023, the municipal employers rejected the continuation of the collective agreement on flexible working time arrangements for older employees, the so-called TV Flex AZ. This means that there is no longer any option for municipal employees to go into partial retirement. The KAV has so far rejected collective bargaining about a partial retirement scheme for Bavarian companies and administrations.
In Verdi’s opinion, the possibility of partial retirement is particularly important for AWM employees. “The hard physical strain means that many employees are unable to carry out their jobs until their regular retirement begins,” says Munich-based Verdi managing director Heinrich Birner. For them, a partial retirement scheme is the “great glimmer of hope that they will be able to make the transition to retirement without having to apply for unemployment benefit and then citizen’s benefit”.
Verdi has also called on air security forces at several German airports to go on strike this Thursday. However, Munich Airport should not be affected by this.