Strike announcement: 2.5 million employees fight for wage justice!

Strike announcement: 2.5 million employees fight for wage justice!

On March 5, 2025, the Ver.di union announces extensive warning strikes in the public service, which will take place in Landau, Pirmasens and Frankenthal. The strike day falls on the Equal Pay Day, which will be celebrated on March 7, and directly on the International Women's Day on March 8. These movements are the result of failed collective bargaining on February 18, in which the employers have not offered an offer. More than 2.5 million employees in the public service are affected by the warning strikes, which underlines the urgency of the demands.

The gender-pay gap in Germany was 16 percent in 2024, which again put the need for equality of wages. Marion Paul, the deputy head of ver.di Rhineland-Palatinate-Saarland, emphasizes that not only appropriate wages are necessary, but also better working conditions to combat existing inequality. The current tariff demands include a fee increase of 8 percent and a minor increase of 350 euros per month. In addition, the increase in surcharges for stressful layers such as change layer, night, Sunday and holiday work should be checked.

strike call call and working conditions

The strike call calls focus on employees in the social and educational service of the daycare centers, in nursing and in local hospitals. The aim is to overcome the wage differences and to combat the shortage of workers in care professions. Current results of a ver.di working time survey show that difficult working conditions and unattractive working hours are the most common reasons for vacant positions. In the care of the elderly, 79.1 % of the employees stated from the consequences of vacant positions, while in social work 63.9 % and 78.3 % of similar experiences reported.

The statement by the employees is particularly worrying about not being able to stay at work under the current conditions until the retirement age. This interests 82.8 % of employees in care, while in social work and in daycare centers 63.9 % and 86.2 % fear this. The collective bargaining should be continued in Potsdam from March 14 to 16, whereby other warning strikes are not excluded.

Influence of the strike movement

The current strike movement also has an impact on negotiations for the employees of the federal states. Around 70,000 employees have participated in the strikes nationwide. Employers refer to empty public funds and the household chaos in Berlin, while the unions report a great need for improvements. An important aspect of the negotiation results is the inflation -compression premium, which includes a one -time payment of 1,800 euros in December 2023 and a monthly special payment of 120 euros net from January to October 2024.

The tariff contracts also include increases in the monthly table fees for 200 euros from November 1, 2024 as well as a further increase of 5.5 percent or to 340 euros from February 1, 2025 if no further increases can be achieved. There are special regulations for trainees that affect their increase and takeover. The term of the new collective agreement is scheduled until October 31, 2025.

With these measures, a clear step towards a fairer remuneration is undertaken in order to effectively address the challenges of the shortage of skilled workers in the social professions. [Speyer-Kurier] continues to report on the developments and possible next steps of the collective bargaining, while [Verdi.de] gives deeper insights into the background and demands of the strikers.