Kita strike on International Women's Day: Children in Bavaria face closed doors
Created: 03/08/2022, 15:41
By: Magdalena von Zumbusch
Daycare workers across Bavaria went on strike on International Women's Day.
© Jan Woitas/dpa
On today's International Women's Day: The Verdi and GEW unions called for a nationwide strike.
Throughout Bavaria, many parents stood with their children in front of closed doors.
Munich – The Verdi service union and GEW, which represents the educational professions in particular, are demanding better pay for social and educational professions.
They are also calling for an improvement in the working conditions, which have been worsened by the corona pandemic *, and for measures to combat the shortage of skilled workers.
According to Verdi, the strike will continue in the coming weeks.
Not only daycare centers are affected.
In addition, educators in after-school care centers, at open all-day schools, social workers and social pedagogues in youth centers, in school social work and in general social services were called to strike.
Verdi calls for a strike in daycare centers: collective bargaining has been disappointing so far
Verdi accuses municipal employers of a lack of accommodation in the current collective bargaining talks.
Both sides met last Friday, and two more rounds of talks are planned.
Negotiations will continue on March 21st and 22nd.
The disappointment on the employee side about the negotiations so far is great.
According to Verdi, not a single offer was made by the employers in the five rounds of negotiations last Friday.
In view of what had to be done additionally due to Corona, one had hoped for more accommodation.
“After two years of special challenges caused by the pandemic, those affected feel left out in the rain,” is how Verdi Vice President Christine Behle assesses the state of mind of the 330,000 employees.
More recognition is also a question of equality
According to figures researched by Stern
magazine, around 83 percent of women work in social professions, and
even 94 percent of day-care center teachers.
In order to make it clear that it is also about equality, the strike was postponed to today, March 8th - International Women's Day.
With a negotiable offer, the employer side would be able to end the dispute at any time, according to Christine Behle from Verdi.
According to the employers' side, the strike is premature: the negotiations are just beginning, says the negotiator on the employers' side, SPD politician Karin Welge.
But the legitimacy of the demands themselves is also questioned: educators are "already the top earners compared to other professional groups with comparable training in the public sector".
Rally today at 4 p.m. at Königsplatz in Munich
The youth welfare offices are therefore asking parents across Bavaria to organize alternative care for today.
Children who come to one of the daycare centers on strike accompanied by their legal guardians would be turned away with reference to the warning strike.
If children come to a facility without their legal guardians, they will be temporarily supervised, but the legal guardians will be asked to pick them up immediately.
In an emergency, the children would be picked up by specialists from an emergency service facility or a daycare center that was not on strike and would be supervised there until they were picked up.
On Tuesday afternoon, at 4 p.m., there will be a rally on Munich's Königsplatz, to which Verdi will invite all those affected and interested in Munich.
Similar events and protest actions also take place in Nuremberg and Regensburg*.
*Merkur.de/bayern is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
Prominent women have also spoken out as part of International Women's Day. However, the statements by Gloria-Sophie Burkandt*, the daughter of Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), are questionable.