Showdown in the public service: Verdi demands over ten percent more salaries for policewomen, teachers and nurses. Because of inflation, negotiations with the federal states are likely to be difficult.
First demonstrate, then talk: This is how conflictual things start. Even before the first collective bargaining negotiations this Thursday, Verdi members marched through Berlin in the morning to campaign for higher wages. The union is demanding 10.5 percent more money for millions of employees. Because employers point to empty coffers, it will be a tough conflict. “There are difficult negotiations ahead of us,” says your negotiator, Hamburg Finance Senator Andreas Dressel. He’s not exaggerating.