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Symbolic picture of geriatric care: Agreement as a "positive signal for the entire industry"
Photo: Candy Welz / dpa
According to a collective agreement between the Ver.di union and the BVAP employers' association, incomes in care for the elderly should finally rise.
However, the private nursing home owners and operators of nursing services are vehemently opposed to a uniform collective agreement for nursing care that is to be extended to all of Germany.
The nursing employers' association, which competes with the BVAP, has - with the support of the Evangelical Home Foundation - announced a lawsuit against the collective agreement.
The plaintiff stated that the BVAP binds less than three percent of the 28,000 geriatric care companies in Germany.
And Ver.di is "as good as nonexistent in elderly care".
Therefore, the association will apply to determine the union's incapacity to pay collective bargaining agreements so that this is not "declared generally binding with the kind assistance of Federal Labor Minister Heil".
The other employers' association bpa warns that the general binding would not be legal.
"In our economic and social system and our basic democratic order, minimal minorities cannot determine the collective bargaining autonomy of majorities," said Association President Rainer Brüderle.
"In addition, a standard collective agreement from Stralsund to Freiburg is beyond operational reality."
Plus 25 percent by mid-2023?
A nationwide collective agreement has been disputed for months.
Ver.di and the BVAP association have now agreed to increase the minimum hourly wages by 25 percent by mid-2023.
A plus is planned for the first time on August 1, 2021 and for the last time on June 1, 2023.
At the end of the wage increases, nursing assistants would receive at least 14.40 euros per hour.
If you have completed at least one year of training, it should be 15.25 euros.
The minimum hourly wages for registered nurses will increase to 18.75 euros.
According to Ver.di, the Federal Ministry of Labor will declare the collective agreement generally binding for the entire industry on August 1st.
BVAP board spokesman Gero Kettler called the wage agreement a “positive signal for the entire industry”.
It shows "that employers take responsibility for better working conditions in nursing."
Now it is the turn of politicians to secure the »refinancing«.
According to Ver.di, in June 2023 at least the following monthly salaries will be paid for a 39-hour week: 2440 euros for nursing assistants and 2585 euros for those with at least one year of training and 3180 euros for skilled nurses.
The collective agreement regulates minimum conditions, better regulations are still possible.
Die Linke sharply criticized the lawsuit announced by the Care Employers' Association.
"This is an outrageous process," said party leader Bernd Riexinger.
The working conditions in nursing have been bad for a long time, "the pay, by the way, underground".
It is "ludicrous" that the majority of employees are excluded from collective agreements, especially in the social field.
The left boss called on Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) to work to facilitate the general binding of collective agreements in the area.
Ministry: collective agreement "not yet in the towel"
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health said the collective agreement was "not yet in the dry cloths."
According to the ministry, "care providers in nursing homes, homes, should only be paid if they also pay their employees according to a tariff (...) or agreements similar to tariffs".
A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Labor said that the procedure for general applicability could only begin when the parties to the collective bargaining agreement have requested it.
Church institutions also have to be heard.
The Diakonie reported that it supported the goal of improving working conditions in care across the board.
Their labor law commission now wants to check whether the collective agreement drawn up by the BVAP and Ver.di can be approved.
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