The Verdi and GEW unions called the strikes amid an ongoing dispute with state governments – including Berlin – over contracts for kita workers, teachers, and social welfare workers.
These members of staff won’t be at work Wednesday and Thursday as part of a warning strike amidst negotiations.
Strikers instead gathered at Ernst-Reuter-Platz in Berlin for a rally on Wednesday morning.
The unions are demanding a pay rise of 10.5 percent or at least an additional €500 a month for regular staffers and an extra €200 for students. They’re also demanding that the Berlin, Hamburg, and Bremen state governments come up with a €300 city-state allowance.
Negotiations continue Thursday and Friday in Potsdam and do concern workers nationwide, even though its only Berlin workers striking for the moment. Demonstrators are expected outside the negotiations in Potsdam.
There is no word yet on whether strikes could happen elsewhere.
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